When the Rich Visit PCA
by kittenamos
Summary: (Sequel to When the Rich Meet the Nerd) Logan and Quinn return to PCA with the rest of the gang, along with the return of an old friend. Also, Daniel still hasn't been caught by the police. What happens when he finds his way to the boarding school looking for Quinn? Rated M for sexual content in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Now, this chapter is meant to be a quick review about what happened in When the Rich Meet the Nerd and about what was going on right before the new school year started.

The next chapter should be up in about a week.

Please read and review

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_**Quinn's Point of View**_

I finished packing up my last box, which was now filled with my science supplies, and worked on taping the container shut.

I was going to be heading back to PCA tomorrow for my senior year of high school. It was weird to think about. I had been attending the Pacific Coast Academy since the 8th grade. It was hard to believe that this would be my last year going to the boarding school located in California. This year was going to be even more difficult for me considering what had happened in the state just a couple weeks ago.

The incident occurred while I was visiting Logan at his mansion in Beverly Hills. Why was I visiting Logan, you ask? Well . . . for the past several months he has been my boyfriend. Yes, me, the science nerd, was dating Logan; the rich, attractive, athletic, and now ex-player.

Our relationship first started a couple days after Mark broke up with me. My ex-boyfriend had developed a crush on another girl in one of his classes, and ended things with me in order to pursue a relationship with her. The girl appeared to be the exact opposite of me, especially in the way she dressed. When my attempt to win Mark back by dressing more 'slutty' didn't work, Logan had found me sitting on a bench, crying.

The way he had talked to me; without the slightest hint of sarcasm or a single hurtful remark, was so unlike the Logan I had gotten to know over the years. He was kind and sweet to me in a way that he had never been with me before. Then . . . something happened. One second we were talking about Mark, and next thing I knew his lips were on mine. That kiss . . . it was so different from the way Mark would kiss me.

Everything changed after that. I was scared about how our friends and classmates would react to the turn of events. We started by sneaking around to do our couple activities in secret, and eventually came out during the prom last year.

Anyways, while I was visiting my new boyfriend at his house, Logan had introduced me to three of his friends that lived in his neighborhood; one of which thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of me during the middle of the night. Ever since, I have been a mess.

I came back to my hometown in Seattle shortly after the incident, but only because Logan agreed to come with me. Since the attack, Logan was the only person that I have felt completely safe around. He has been a huge help and comfort for me. I don't know what I would have done without him these past couple of weeks.

Logan had been staying with my family and me ever since, rarely leaving my side . . . that is, until last week. With the new semester starting soon, Logan had to go home to make sure he had everything he needed for the new school year. He was hesitant about leaving me, but he agreed to go after I told him I would be fine until school started. Even so, he made me promise to call him if I needed anything.

I had been surprisingly better since coming back to my hometown, that is, considering that I have stopped crying and my body has stopped shaking uncontrollably all the time. Nights were still hard though, with nightmares occurring frequently. I have tried to call Logan as few times as possible, in a panic, especially during the middle of the night, but it was nice to hear his voice during those few occasions where I had given in and picked up the phone.

The idea of going back to California terrified me. I knew that all of my panic would come back due to returning to an area that was just a couple hours drive from where I was attacked. The worst part was that Daniel was still out there somewhere and no one knew where he was.

**_Logan's Point of View_**

In less than twenty-four hours I will be back at PCA. I was surprised to find myself excited about going back to school this year. Sure, going back meant dealing with classes, teachers, and more homework. Not usually my favorite things to be around, but compared to all the drama I have witnessed over the summer, I was happy to have the chance to return to something more normal.

What could possibly have happened to me over my summer vacation to make me, Logan Reese, excited about returning to school? It all started when I invited my girlfriend, Quinn Pensky, to spend a couple weeks with me at my house over the summer.

My friends were surprised when I first told them that I was in a real relationship with someone, but that reaction was nothing compared to when I told them that she was a science genius. Things just got worse from there . . . They started to make jokes about her before she even arrived, and then there was the incident with Daniel the night of my dad's 4th of July party. I have been worried about Quinn ever since.

I hated having to leave her to head back home. She needs me and I feel like I have just abandoned her. She told me she would be fine for a week, and I eventually gave in only after making her promise to call me if she started to get anxious again. She did call me a couple times in the middle of the night whenever she would wake up from a nightmare. I hated the fact that I couldn't be there to help her through these events in person. I had also called and texted her at least twice a day since I left her.

I knew that returning to California might cause her a little uneasiness, especially with the fact that Daniel was still on the run. I wish I knew what to do to help her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Quinn's Point of View**_

"It's not too late to go home." My mother stated as we turned into the drop off location at Pacific Coast Academy.

"Yeah," my dad agreed. "You could attend one of the local high schools back in Seattle."

I sat in the seat right behind my mom. All of my bags that were filled with my belongings were stuffed into the trunk of the van.

I shook my head at my parent's request. "It's my senior year. There's no point in transferring to a new high school now. Besides, I want to graduate here, with all my friends." As I said that last part, Logan's face appeared in my mind. I wondered if he was here yet . . .

My parents helped me get all of my things into the new room that I would be sharing with Zoey and Lola. With the three of us moving back and forth from the car to the room, everything got brought in, in record time. We then met outside by the vehicle to say our last goodbyes.

"Take care of yourself." My mom mumbled as she hugged me close to her. She pulled back before adding, "You need anything, don't hesitate to call us."

My father nodded in agreement. "I heard that they have some therapists located on campus. If you feel like you need to talk to someone about what happened . . ."

"I know," I jumped in, cutting him off and gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine, really."

My dad moved to give me a quick hug and they both hopped back into the van. I waved at them as they drove away. The smile remained on my face until they were out of sight and a frown appeared in its place.

I let out a fearful sigh. I could sense the familiar feeling of apprehension growing inside me. As I turned to head back into my dorm building, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my boyfriend. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey Quinn."

Hearing his voice through the phone, I could already feel my anxiety start to lower a little. "Are you on campus yet?" I was shocked to hear a slight quivery in my speech that I hoped Logan didn't notice.

"Almost," he replied. "Just a couple minutes away." There was a slight pause then, "Are you okay?"

So much for him not noticing . . . "I'm fine," I answered, trying to keep my voice steady but not entirely succeeding. By now, I had returned to my dorm room and closed the door, leaving it unlocked. "My parents just left, and Zoey and Lola aren't here yet." I added, knowing that he would understand where my anxiety was coming from.

"I'll be there in a couple minutes." He assured. I gave him my new room number before hanging up the phone.

I placed the device on the desk, which was currently located by the door, before turning to glare at all the bags thrown into the corner by the bunk bed.

"Might as well start unpacking." I muttered to myself, before shuffling over to the luggage. I started by throwing a couple bags onto the top bunk, claiming the bed as mine and bent down to start removing my clothes from another.

I was just stuffing the last of my clothes into the dresser when I heard the doorknob start to turn behind me. Expecting Logan to walk in, I was slightly surprised to see Lola angrily kicking the door all the way open before struggling into the room.

She came waddling in, two bags in each hand, along with a colorful handbag draping from one shoulder. The Puerto Rican let everything drop to the floor right in front of the bunk bed before flopping onto the bottom section. I heard her mumble what sounded like, "I hate move-in day" into the mattress. I placed my hands on my hips and shifted my weight to my right leg as struggled not to laugh at my friend.

Zoey strode in a couple seconds behind her and gently tossed one of her bags onto the single bed before proceeding to rid herself of the one that was weighing down on her shoulder. "That's at least one good thing about graduating this year. No more struggling with luggage on move-in day."

At that, Lola sprang up into a sitting position, banging her head against the top bunk in the process. "Not true!" She pouted, rubbing a hand over her bruised skull. "We'll have to go through this again at college."

Zoey rolled her eyes in truce before proceeding to unpack her stuff. I headed around the bunk bed to retrieve another one of my bags, while Lola let out a soft groan as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached to drag one of her suitcases closer to her so she could begin the deed as well.

Usually I found the process of having to pack and unpack all my stuff an exhausting and tiring ordeal, but considering what I had been through over the summer, this time I enjoyed the unloading. It kept my mind and hands busy, and made me feel almost normal again.

I was down to my last box of science supplies when I realized that Logan hadn't made it to the room yet to see me. It had been almost thirty minutes since I called him and he had said he was almost here. I knew he wasn't working on unpacking his belongings. He would make someone else do that, like always.

I turned around to find Zoey under her nightstand table working on getting her alarm clock plugged in while Lola was busy hanging things up in the closet.

"Did either of you guys see Logan on your way here?" I asked them.

"I did," Zoey replied as she moved to take a seat on her bed and worked on getting the clock set to the right time.

"Where?"

"Chase and I saw him arguing with Michael about something. Chase went to break it up. Not sure what happened after that." She answered without looking up from what she was doing.

"Okay," I pushed the last box past Lola and set it up in the back corner to unpack later. "I'm going to look for him. Either of you want to come?"

"No thanks," answered Lola as she stepped around me to finish putting some stuff in the closet.

"I'd like to finish unpacking first." Zoey replied, setting the clock back on the table. "Why don't we all meet up for dinner later?"

I nodded and grabbed my phone off the desk. "Text me when to meet you." I said as I headed out the door, waving the phone in the air as farther explanation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**_Logan's Point of View_**

About two seconds after I got out of my limo, Michael Barret raced past me, juggling his luggage in his hands.

"Where are you going?" I yelled to him before he could get out of earshot.

He turned around to see who was calling him. "Single bed . . . mine . . ." He huffed. Michael moved to turn back around, but stumbled over something that he had dropped.

"No, it's not," I affirmed him as I marched over to his location and stood over him, crossing my arms against my chest. "You got the single bed last year! It's mine again."

"No way!" He cried, angrily getting to his feet. "You've always gotten the single bed . . ."

We both started screaming at the same time, each of us fighting to be heard over the other.

"Hey hey hey," someone else started adding shouts to our argument from behind us. I felt someone grab my shoulder and push me back slightly, and noticed that the person was doing a similar action to Michael. Michael and I turned away from each other to see who had interrupted us to find Chase glaring at us. "What now?!"

"He wants the single bed again!" I yelled at the same time Michael said, "He started it!"

"Hey hey HEY!" Chased cried, waving his arms to get us to shut up. "Really? This is about the single bed again!"

Before I could respond with another jab, Michael gave in saying, "Why don't we just let Chase have it this year?"

"WHAT?!" I turned on him.

"You've had it for years, I got it last year, it's Chase's turn man."

I wanted to argue the point farther, but I had stuff to unpack and a girlfriend to see. "Fine," I reluctantly agreed, given him a small shrug and turned to acknowledge Chase. "Take it." I picked up a couple of my bags that the chauffer had already taken out of the vehicle and angrily stormed off to my new room, Chase and Michael close behind.

**_Quinn's Point of View_**

I sent a text message to Logan as I headed down the hallway of my dorm building, asking him where he was staying this year and headed for the door. I received the reply as I stepped outside and proceeded in the direction of his new building.

The door was open when I arrived. "Hey guys," I greeted the three boys as I entered.

I first spotted Chase and Michael. They were busy working on getting the new flat screen TV hooked up, which I guessed was a gift from Logan's dad for the boys. Chase was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the screen with what appeared to be the manual open in his lap, while Michael was working on plugging in some cords to the giant device. They each nodded at me as I came in and Chase gave me a friendly wave.

"Hey," someone called from farther into the room. Looking over towards the desk that was located on the other side of the room, I saw my boyfriend kneeling on the floor plugging in the computer. Catching my eye he gave me a small smile and a what's up nod, before getting up and heading over to me. He placed his hands on my waist and lowered his voice so the others wouldn't hear. "You okay?"

"Fine," I whispered back, giving him a small smile. "Zoey and Lola arrived shortly after I called you." I added.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you when I got here. I . . . got sidetracked." He answered, sending a glare in Michael's direction who was to busy working on the TV to notice. Logan then gave me a quick kiss on my forehead before pulling away.

I started to move to follow Logan towards the couch, but Chase called my name and I turned back to look at him.

"Could you help us get this entertainment center hooked up?" Chase asked from his place on the floor.

"Yeah, it took us hours to get all this working last year." Added Michael as he bent over slightly to plug another cord into the TV. This was followed by a loud whining noise causing us all to cover our ears along with complaints and orders to unplug the machine coming from the three bystanders. Michael quickly reached to pull out the wire. "Sorry! Sorry!" He cried in apology.

When the boys had calmed back down, I headed over to sit next to Chase and took the manual from him.

* * *

About a half hour later, the system was fully installed and ready to go.

I handed the remote to Chase, who was the closest to me. "Want to give it a try?"

He took the remote from me and pressed the on button. The TV flashed on a second later to reveal a basketball game.

"Awesome!" Logan cheered, moving to stand next to Chase and Michael.

While the three boys gathered in front of their own personal HD television, I heard my phone begin to buzz from its location on the boy's desk. The caller ID announced that it was Zoey on the other end.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hey, Lola and I are getting ready to head over to Sushi Rox for dinner. You coming?" She asked.

"Sure, I'll be right there."

"Great! Invite the guys too."

"Will do, bye." I hung up and turned to look at the boys. Their backs were to me as they continued to admire the system. "Are you guys hungry?" I asked.

"Starving," Logan responded, turning his head to look at me over his shoulder. Chase and Michael expressed their hungry in turn.

"Zoey and Lola are heading to Sushi Rox for dinner." I explained, holding up the phone. "Want to join us?"

"Sure," Chase said as he switched off the TV and set the remote on the table.

"You guys go ahead. I already have plans tonight." Michael answered as he sat down on the couch to pull on his shoes.

"Where are you going?" Questioned Logan.

"To see Lisa." He stood up and started for the door.

"Why don't you invite her to come with us?" I asked before he could disappear from view.

Michael stopped to look back at us. "I'll talk to her about it. Maybe we'll see you there." He gave us a slight wave before heading down the hallway.

* * *

"Guys, over here," Lola waved us over to their table as Logan, Chase, and I entered the restaurant.

They were seated at a table for six, with Zoey and Lola sitting across from each other on one side. Chase took the seat next to his girlfriend, while I sat in the chair next to Lola. Logan took the empty space next to me.

After placing their orders with Kazu, the topic among the friends quickly turned to their summer vacations.

"You'll never guess who Chase and I met while in Maui!" Zoey shrieked in excitement.

"Who?" Logan asked, appearing to be bored with where the conversation was going. Chase was sharing a knowing smile with Zoey while the rest of the table was leaning forward in excitement, dyeing to know who the famous person was.

"Leonardo DiCaprio . . . and Daniel Radcliffe," Zoey exclaimed. This was followed by squeals of astonishment from both of the girls. "Chase took my picture with them too." The blonde added, digging for her phone in her purse to show them.

"How was your summer, Lola?" Chase asked after the girls had calmed down a little.

"Uhh . . . Tutoring kids was not fun at all." Lola groaned in annoyance.

"Which is why I am never having kids."

I turned to glare at Logan. Did he really not want to have children?

"What?" He sent me a questioning look, clearly not understanding what he had done to upset me.

I rolled my eyes and let it go for now. There would be time to talk about such things later.

"What about you, Quinn?" Zoey asked, trying to get the conversation back on topic.

"Huh," I turned my gaze back to my friend.

"What did you do over the summer?"

I shrugged. "Hung out with my friends back home, worked on my science experiments . . ."

"That's it?" Lola asked, before taking a bite of her order of yellowtail.

I took a bite of my California roll, chewing slowly before answering. "I did spend about a week at Logan's place."

They must have heard the slight hint of depression in my voice that started to appear as the conversation turned in this direction. I heard the quiet clanking sounds of my friends setting their utensils down and felt their looks of concern on me.

"Did something happen?" Chase asked, lowering his voice.

"What did he do?" Lola snapped, sending an accusing look in Logan's direction.

"Logan didn't do anything. It wasn't his fault." I replied angrily.

"Are you okay, Quinn?" Zoey spoke up in concern.

I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to tell them what had happened. I closed my eyes, and the image of Daniel looking down on me, pinning me to the bed came back to me. I could see him clearly in my head.

I felt someone touch my hand and I opened my eyes to see Logan staring at me with concern of his own. He leaned close to me to whisper in my ear. "You don't have to tell them."

I didn't have to . . . but they were my friends. It would be a little awkward and uncomfortable to talk about, but I also wanted them to know. It would be nice to have my friends understanding what was going on if I suddenly went into a panic attack in front of them at some point during the school year.

I turned back to face my friends and slowly began to tell them about Daniel. Logan gave my hand a squeeze for encouragement.

I started with what had happened at the 4th of July party and then moved on to what happened later that night.

**_Flashback _**

**_(4th of July Party)_**

The couch shifted under me as someone sat down. I turned only to come face to face with Daniel. I felt my heart rate instantly picked up in fear.

I froze as he scooted closer to me and started rubbing his fingers against my upper arm. All I could think about was the creepy look on his face.

"What do you want?" I asked, finally finding my voice.

He smirked at me, but unlike Logan's that made him appear cute, Daniel's smile made me feel uncomfortable. I cringed away from him, but he just moved closer to me again and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "What's wrong, baby?"

I pushed his arm away from me and stood up. "Don't call me that!"

"What?" He looked up at me all innocently.

I took a couple steps backwards. "Leave me alone!" I shouted at him. I then turned and pushed my way through the crowd, wanting to find Logan.

**_(Later That Night)_**

I watched as an evil grin spread across Daniel's face. "You must be damn good in bed."

My eyes widened in fear. I moved to dash around him to head for the door, but he grabbed my shoulders as I tried to pass him, and pushed me against the wall.

I struggled in his hold. "You're wrong," I tried to explain. "We haven't done that. Logan hasn't . . ."

"Don't lie to me," he growled and before I could react, his lips were on mine.

I moved my hands up with the intent of pushing him away, but he simply moved his hands down from my shoulders and forced my arms back to my sides.

Next thing I knew, Daniel was pulling me back to the bed and shoved me down on it. I watched as he crawled back on top of me, using his legs and arms to hold me down.

By now I was crying hysterically, begging him to stop.

**_End of Flashback_**

"Oh God, Quinn . . ." Chase breathed out in a sigh.

"How are you doing?" Zoey asked, keeping her voice low.

I shrugged. "Better than I was a couple weeks ago. I'm still getting nightmares and I've been having panic attacks every now and then."

Lola scooted her chair closer to me so she could wrap an arm around me in comfort.

The silence was suddenly broken when Michael, with Lisa close behind him, came running into the restaurant. This, to my relief, took the attention off of me.

"Guys! GUYS!" Michael cried in excitement.

"What? What's going on?" Everyone started questioning their over-exhilarated friend.

"You'll never guess who's back at PCA!" He exclaimed, coming to a stop at the table, Lisa standing slightly behind him.

"Who?" asked Logan.

"Dana," he announced to the group. "Dana Cruz is back at PCA!"

Dana Cruz . . . is back? Dana and I didn't get along to well the first time she was here. Similar to Logan, she would tease me consistently because of my love for science. She had left PCA before I had really become part of the group, so we never had the chance to get that close. Why did she have to come back now?

Dana was known to have a snobbish and intimidating attitude, and I was worried about what remarks she might have not only about the incident with Daniel, but also about my relationship with Logan.

Logan and Dana had been pretty close with each other in the 8th grade and I knew that Logan had had a crush on her back then. I knew he loved me, but seeing Dana again . . . Would this draw back any old feelings with him?

Hearing her name, I could feel myself going into a panic attack.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**Logan's Point of View**_

Dana's back?! Dana Cruz?! Dana and I had tried to keep in touch during high school, but as the years went by we started to drift apart. I hadn't heard from her in almost a year . . . and now she was back! It would be nice to see her again.

My excitement over Dana's return vanished as my eyes moved to rest on my girlfriend. She wasn't facing me, but it was easy for me to see that something was off about her. While everyone else was busy chattering in excitement about Dana, Quinn's body was starting to shake.

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she instantly turned around to face me. My worries were confirmed when I saw the tears start to appear in her eyes and her already pale skin seemed to turn an even paler shade of white.

"Quinn?" I asked, moving my hands up and down her bare arms, trying to comfort her. My voice became more concerned as I heard a slight wheezing sound start to come from her as she began to struggle for air. "Quinn, what's wrong?"

Our friends' excitement began to die down as Quinn's current condition came to their attention. Michael quickly moved around the table to the last empty seat available and Lisa pulled a chair over from the next table to sit on.

"Is she okay?" Michael questioned. He had come in after Quinn told everyone about her summer. He hadn't been warned about the situation. Everyone else looked on with concern.

"She's having a panic attack." I informed them, as I tried to keep my voice calm. The last thing Quinn needed right now was for me to start panicking. I quickly pushed back my chair and moved to stand up. "I'm going to take her outside for some fresh air." I explained to the group, as I turned to help Quinn up. Wrapping an arm around her waist, I hurried her outside and guided her over to a bench that was located close by.

I was dying to know what had brought on this panic attack. Everything appeared to be going fine. She had seemed to get through telling our friends about what had happened to her without much of a problem. So I was at a complete loss as to what had happened to cause this attack.

Before I could question her about it, I needed to help her calm down. I turned, folding one leg under me across the bench in order to face her as best I could. I placed one hand lightly on her knee and rested my other hand on her shoulder as I reminded her to focus on her breathing: in through the nose and out through the mouth. Slowly, the wheezing sounds started to disappear and her breathing got back under control.

"I'm sorry," she whimpered. A couple of tears escaped from her eyes and began to run down her cheeks.

"You don't need to apologize." I answered softly, gently wiping the tears away with my thumb.

She looked up at me with a gloomy expression. "You're not embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"Embarrassed?" I exclaimed in gentle astonishment. "If I was still embarrassed to be dating you I wouldn't have announced my love in front of everyone at the prom." I reminded her with a smirk.

A small smile briefly appeared on her face at the memory, but it was almost instantly replaced with a sad glare. "You know that's not what I meant."

I sighed. "It's fine. These panic attacks will go away in time. You went through something very traumatizing just a couple weeks ago. I'd be surprised if you weren't still emotional."

As I was talking, Quinn had turned away from me to look down at her hands, which were moving nervously in her lap. She sniffled once and wiped away a couple tears before they could slide down her face.

I began to trace shapes on Quinn's exposed arm with my hand that had been resting on her shoulder. "What happened?"

She glanced up at me in slight confusion.

"You seemed fine until Michael came running in with his news." I explained. "Can you tell me what . . .?" Suddenly, it hit me. "It's Dana, isn't it?"

She turned her eyes back to look at her hands. I heard her sniffle a few times, and even though I couldn't see her face, I knew fresh tears were starting to run down her cheeks again.

"Sweetie . . ." I cooed, as I moved to give her a soft kiss along her temple. "Dana's not going to do anything to you."

Her head snapped up and she scowled at me with a hint of anger in her eyes. "You don't know that!" She snapped at me. "She was mean to me last time she was here."

"Quinn . . ." I tried to plead with her to give the situation a chance, but she spoke up before I could say anything else.

"No," she moaned softly. "You didn't want me to meet your friends because you were worried about what they were going to say to me. How is this different?"

I was shocked about the sudden change in her tone. Here I was trying to comfort my girlfriend and she didn't want to hear anything that I had to say.

"You told me you could handle that." My voice was starting to rise in irritation. "Remember, you told me that they were just words."

"Just words . . ." she turned away for a second, nodding to herself. When she looked at me again, accusation was in her eyes. "Yes, just like how all the teasing and name calling you have done to me over the years were 'just words'."

My hands flew from where they had been resting on her body as if they had suddenly caught on fire and scooted away from her, towards the edge of the bench. "You're still mad about that?!"

Instead of answering the question, she responded with, "Since I first started going to PCA, you and Dana have been rude and mean to me. Always teasing me whenever an opportunity presented itself."

I gaped at her for what seemed like a couple minutes before finding my voice. "If I'm really such a bad guy then why are you dating me? For the past couple of months I have been trying to make all of that up to you!"

"By letting Daniel run his hands all over me like I was some kind of prized object he had just won?!" A look of alarm flashed across her face, telling me that she instantly regretted using that jab.

I froze. "Let him . . .? You think I . . ." I was shocked. Did she really think that I wanted her to go through what she had?

I watched as she shifted nervously in her place. "That night when he was . . . Daniel told me something," she whispered. I had to move close to her again and leaned forward to try and hear everything that she was saying. "He told me that you had given him permission to . . . do what he did. He said you told him it was okay."

"I never said that." I answered in a firm voice, hoping she would believe me. I returned one hand to her shoulder, wanting to encourage her to go on. "You don't really think that I . . ."

She just stared at her lap, playing with her fingers in nervous twitches. I sighed as I moved my hand from her shoulder to brush it through her long brunette hair. I rested my forehead across her temple and hairline. There had to be something I could do to help her.

"If I made an appointment for you to see the school's therapist, would you go?" I asked, whispering in her ear. I was relieved when I felt her nod her head in response.

I placed a kiss along her temple before pulling away, letting out a sigh of relief. Hopeful this was the start of getting her back on the right track.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Quinn's Point of View**_

Logan kept his promise about setting up an appointment for me to see the school's therapist. The next day, I walked across the campus into the lobby of the psychologist's office and checked in with the lady at the front desk. She gave me a form to fill out and asked me to take a seat in one of the chairs to wait.

The waiting area was small with light blue walls, and simple light fixtures that gave the room a peaceful atmosphere, though it was doing nothing to calm my nerves. There was a large wooden door that led to the back office, and another door that led to the restroom. A small table was pushed into a corner, magazines neatly stacked on the surface, with chairs lined up along the walls on either side of it. The room made me feel more anxious than I was anticipating, and I began to regret coming here alone.

A couple minutes later, my new therapist came out to find me flipping through one of the magazines. As I approached her, she extended her hand to me and introduced herself as Mrs. Thomas, before stepping aside to invite me into her office.

The office was pretty small, but Mrs. Thomas had turned the space into a calming atmosphere. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was the slightly beat up, light blue couch that sat along the far wall. The shades were pulled down on the windows behind the sofa. Mrs. Thomas's desk faced the wall on the right. The walls were painted in a light gray, with a couple landscape photos hanging around the room.

Mrs. Thomas entered the room behind me and closed the door, gesturing for me to take a seat on the couch. I handed her the paper that the receptionist had given to me and took a seat.

"Okay, Ms. Pensky . . ." Mrs. Thomas let out a soft sigh as she sat down in her desk chair, spun around so she would face me, and quickly scanned over the paper work. "You have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for the past couple of months. Can you tell me what happened to start these symptoms?"

I felt her gaze piercing through me, but I avoided her stare to look at my hands, which were placed on my lap. I didn't know this woman at all, and she didn't know me. How was I supposed to talk to her about something so personal yet horrifying? How was I supposed to bring up something so vile and inhuman?

I inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm my rapid heartbeat before finally meeting her eyes, and began to tell her about the incident at the Reese Mansion, leaving out some details.

Mrs. Thomas turned around slightly to place the paper on her desk before turning around to face me again, and leaned forward slightly in her chair. "You know that what happened to you was not your fault, right?"

I nodded, "I know that. I think the anxiety has more to do with not knowing where he is. The police haven't caught him yet."

She leaned back in her chair again before continuing. "How has your boyfriend been doing with all this?"

A small smile appeared on my face as the conversation turned in his direction. "Logan has been great. Patient, comforting . . . he's hardly left my side since the attack."

"And that has made you feel safer? Having him around all the time?"

I nodded again.

She turned around to grab a folder off of her desk, along with a pen. Turning back, she opened the file and made a couple notes on the paper. "How have you been since getting back to PCA?"

I shifted nervously in my seat. "It's been okay."

Mrs. Thomas looked up at me from her folder and waited for me to continue.

"An old friend has returned to PCA." I answered, a slight sound of sarcasm in my voice when I mentioned 'friend'. "Haven't seen her in a couple years."

She wrote something else down as she continued, "That's good, isn't it?"

I shook my head slowly. "She wasn't really my friend. She was friends with other members of my group, but we didn't get along that well."

"Why is that?"

"She would tease me a lot . . . she and Logan."

She looked up in minor surprise. "Your boyfriend?"

I nodded. "I've been called a nerd since I started going to school here. Dana and Logan are both in the popular crowd. Dana never liked me. As for Logan, things have only changed between us just a couple months before school let out for the summer last year."

"Have you seen Dana yet this year?"

I shook my head. "But Logan ran into her last night." I frowned.

"What's wrong?"

I sighed. "Before Dana left PCA, Logan had a huge crush on her."

"And you're worried that those feelings may return?"

Instead of answering, I turned to look at one of the photos along the wall. The image showed a waterfall that was a bright, clear blue. It was gushing over the rocks and had a beautiful serenity-pool at the bottom.

"Have you talked to your boyfriend about these feelings you're having?"

I turned back to look at her and shook my head. "Not yet."

She nodded slightly in understanding and glanced at the clock that was placed on the wall behind her desk. "Well, are time is almost up for the day." She noted. "You mentioned before that you and Logan have been spending a lot of time together since the attack."

"Yeah?" I questioned, wondering where she was going with this.

"How would you feel about trying to spend a little less time with Logan? Spend more time with your other friends or even by yourself?"

That surprised me. Why would she want me to spend less time with the only man that had made me feel safe since this whole thing happened?

She must have read the panic on my face for she continued by saying, "Right now, it seems like you are relying on Logan to keep you feeling safe and calm. I would rather you not have to feel like you need him for protection all the time. Spending some time away from him and with your other friends will help you see that you don't need Logan to make you feel safe."

I thought about this and it did make some sense, reluctantly agreeing to try it. But could I do that? I had been spending so much time with Logan lately that I couldn't even imagine being away from him for long.

"Good," she said, sending me a small smile. "Now, why don't we set up an appointment for you next week?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**Logan's Point of View**_

It had been a couple days since Quinn's first appointment with her therapist. She had told me about Mrs. Thomas's suggestion to start spending some time away from me to try and help her self-confidence. This didn't feel right. Quinn was my girlfriend. How was I supposed to leave her alone when I knew she was still hurting? Even though it was hard, I was still able to see the importance in it, and I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to help her through this. If that meant having to push her away a little, I would do that, but it left me with more free time.

Before Quinn and I got together, this free time was usually spent with me flirting with other girls, going on dates, and making out with random chicks. Now, I couldn't do any of that without the possibility of being accused of cheating on my girlfriend.

I did hang out with Chase and Michael to help feel in the time, but they each had girlfriends who they wanted to be with, and when Zoey and Lola weren't with their boyfriends, they were keeping Quinn company. In the end, this opened up an opportunity for me to spend some extra time with Dana and catch up on what we had been doing the past couple of years.

Dana had left PCA to move to France when she got accepted to participate in an exchange student program right before we started high school. Her stories of trying to communicate with the French, experiencing the new foods, and the different customs that are practiced varied from weird to hysterical.

It was nice to be able to relax and have fun in someone else's company. I hadn't felt this carefree since the incident over the summer.

* * *

I closed my eyes against the glare of the sun as I laid on my back, working on my tan. All I had on were my swim trunks and I could feel the towel against my bare back. A slight breeze could be felt coming from the direction of the ocean. A couple grains of sand were getting caught in the wind and I could feel them landing on my skin occasionally. I placed one hand behind my head as I let my mind began to drift.

"What's wrong?"

I turned, squinting at the woman who was keeping me company. The sun was causing a bright halo, affecting my vision. Through the glare I was able to make out Dana lying next to me. She had brought her own towel that was currently spread out under her, as she lay on her side. She had her head propped up on her elbow, allowing her to look down at me.

I let my eyes travel up her body, taking in her curves. I was having some trouble keeping my eyes off of her in her dark purple bikini. "Nothing's wrong," I groaned, struggling to keep my composure. I turned away from her and closed my eyes again.

"Yeah, right," I heard her sigh as she stretched out so that she was lying on her back. "Something has been bothering you for days."

I frowned. "You haven't heard?"

"About what?"

"Quinn, I'm worried about her."

I heard a groan come from her direction. "Quinn again?" While everyone else learned about our relationship at the prom last year, Dana had just heard about it this week. "I still don't understand what you see in her."

"Few people do," I grumbled.

She was quiet for a couple minutes and then, "Why aren't you with her right now?"

I turned to squint at her again and pouted. "You don't want me around?" I saw a smirk appear on her face at my expression.

"You're a dork." I let out a soft chuckle at her response before turning away again. "I'm just saying, for a couple, you two don't seem to be spending much time together."

I frowned, an image of Daniel appearing behind my closed eyes. "She's been going through something lately."

"I don't think I've ever even seen you kiss her," she prompted. "That's not like you," she added with a snort.

I sent her a glare. "You've seen me kiss her."

"Yeah, on her forehead or her cheek . . ."

I sighed. Dana was right. Quinn and I hadn't made out since she was assaulted. I've tried, of course, but every time I attempted to get close to Quinn in that way she would flinch away from me. I knew it had to have something to do with what Daniel had done to her, but I missed being close to her like that. I missed her kisses. "She needs some space right now."

I could feel Dana's eyes on me, but I refused to look at her again. "How long has it been?"

"How long has what been?"

"How long has it been since you made out with a girl?"

Why was she pushing this? "A little over a month."

I heard her shifting her position and I could picture her moving to rest her head on her elbow again. "You haven't kissed a girl in over a month?" She questioned in shock, putting great emphasis on 'you'.

Instead of answering, I turned onto my stomach so the sun would tan my back and crossed my arms under my head.

"Seriously, what is going on with you two?" She continued to question me.

Dana was probably going to find out sooner or later. Besides, I wanted to talk to someone about all the frustrating circumstances I had been dealing with lately. It wasn't easy trying to be patient and understanding around someone who had been hurt like Quinn. Especially when all I could think about was wanting to make out with her, and talking about it with Chase and Michael hasn't been helpful lately. It would be nice to get a fresh perspective on the situation.

I sighed before starting in on the story.

**_Quinn's Point of View_**

When I first left PCA for the summer last year, I thought those weeks of separation from my boyfriend were going to be one of the most difficult things for us to get through in our relationship, but that was nothing compared to what I was putting myself through now.

Logan and I would still meet up for meals and we had a couple classes together, but otherwise we took the therapist's advice and kept our distance from each other. I couldn't deny that I missed him, the safeness I felt when he held me, but it was for the best. At lease until I was over the worst of this ordeal.

It was torture knowing that my boyfriend was so close and yet I hardly saw him. His dorm building was only a couple minutes walk from my room and yet I was here struggling to get by day to day without going to him whenever I had a nightmare or a flashback or a panic attack. Instead, I had to turn to Zoey and Lola to help me through these moments of panic.

* * *

"Hey, Quinn," Zoey greeted me as I exited one of the school buildings. "How was class?"

"Fine," I mumbled. Turning away to avoid making eye contact with her, I started heading towards my next class.

Lately, I had been having trouble focusing in my classes, even in science. Not only was I thinking about Logan, but also the flashbacks to Daniel were really making it hard for me to concentrate. My friends were aware of these struggles and I knew that if this continued throughout the school year my grades would suffer greatly.

Thankfully, Zoey decided not to question me further about my schoolwork right now. "Lola and I were thinking about catching a movie tonight. You want to come?"

I smiled to myself. "Sure, I'll see you later." I waved at her as we turned to go to our separate classrooms. Hopefully this would be a great distraction from what my life had turned into recently, at least for a couple hours.

I suffered my way through another class and then made my way back to my dorm room to drop off my backpack and to get ready to go to the movies with my friends.

"Hey, Lola," I greeted as I stepped into the room and threw my stuff on my bed. "What movie are we going to see?"

"There's a movie that recently came to theaters called Buried. It looks interesting."

"Buried?" I questioned.

"Yeah, here . . ." She sat down at the computer and typed something into the search engine. She then began to read something off of the screen. "A civilian truck driver in Iraq, Paul Conroy falls victim to a band of insurgents. Later, Paul awakes in a coffin, with little more than a lighter, a cell phone, and his ever-growing anxiety. Faced with a dwindling oxygen supply and a dying battery, Paul must fight panic, despair and delirium as he awaits a rescue that might not arrive in time."

As she was reading, I stepped up towards the machine to see for myself. "Sounds intense," I ventured.

She froze for a second, before turning around to face me. "Will you be okay seeing something like this?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, still staring at the screen.

"Your panic attacks. This isn't . . ."

"It should be fine," I interrupted her. I gestured to the screen before continuing. "It doesn't say anything about referring to . . . what happened to me."

Lola and I turned when we heard someone else enter the room to find Zoey. She tossed her bag onto the floor by the foot of her bed before asking, "Have you guys decided what movie we're going to see?"

I waited as Lola explained to her the details of the movie suggestion. When Zoey agreed to see it, we each grabbed our purses and phones and headed out the door.

* * *

The lights dimmed in the theater and the movie screen went dark. As the silence drowned out on screen, a couple of the teenagers could be heard whispering to their friends. Suddenly, movement could be heard coming from the speakers and the audience went silent.

On the screen, a man seemed to be trying to move around in a confined space and mumbled words could be heard coming from him. The banging eventually grew louder and a moan was heard when he bumped his head, attempting to sit up inside the coffin he was buried in. Finally, a couple quick flashes of light went across the screen until the man was successfully able to get his lighter on. With the light, the audience was now able to make out what appeared to be a dirty rag tied tightly around the man's head and stretched across his mouth. Dried blood could be seen in his hair and on his forehead. We could tell that he was lying in an old-fashioned wooden coffin. It looked like nothing more than a few rotted-out planks of wood that were nailed together. Realizing the same, the man on screen was struck by an overwhelming, instant panic.

I was surprised when my heart started to pound in my chest and my breathing started to quicken. Something about seeing the man trapped and unable to escape was affecting me negatively. I took a couple deep breaths and was able to get myself back under control.

As the film went on, Paul Conroy continued to go from trying to keep calm and relaxed to fits of freaking out, but nothing affected me as much as what took place an hour into the movie.

It started with the coffin beginning to vibrate slightly, dropping sand granules through a couple of small cracks in the wood. This was followed by the faint sound of an explosion. Within seconds, the explosions grew louder and closer to where the coffin was buried. The vibrations became so intense that it violently shook the man around. The sound of jet plane engines could be heard coming from somewhere above him, flying by as the massive explosions continued. As the male did his best to brace himself inside the box, the explosions caused a large crack to form in the wooden cover. Sand immediately started to pour through the concave shaped crack, seeping in on the male like an hourglass.

Seeing the sand pour into the container, threatening to fill the box up and suffocate him, reminded me of Daniel being on top of me. He had pinned me down on the bed, preventing me from being able to escape. All I could do was stare in terror into the eyes of my attacker, similar to how Paul currently feared for his life up on the screen.

The panic attack started in my chest, as my heart began to race, and my throat felt like it was closing up, making it hard to breath.

I got up from my seat as quietly as I could in order to not disturb my friends or the rest of the audience, and stumbled my way out of the theater room. Once in the hallway, I headed for the entrance, needing to get some fresh air. I tripped down the stairs in front of the movie theater and made my way over to the low built wall that was separating the campus from the main road.

Resting my hand against the surface, I took some slow deep breaths and was able to gain control of my heart rate again. I moved to rest my forehead against the wall and noticed that the bricks felt slightly cool against my sweaty skin. A few tears escaped from my eyes and moved to run down my cheeks.

This couldn't go on. I couldn't live my life like this, not even being able to go see a movie without having a panic attack. Something needed to change and soon.

As I tried to pull myself back together, a young man stopped to stare at me. Taking in the appearance of my unstable body, a smile slowly grew on his face. Then, as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished into a crowd of students before I even realized he was there at all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_**Quinn's Point of View**_

I was sitting on the floor in the lounge, textbooks and worksheets spread out on the coffee table in front of me, trying to get some homework done when Mark approached me.

"Hey, Quinn. Can I talk to you?" He asked in his monotone voice. For some reason that sound never bothered me while we were going out, but now I cringe slightly at the lack of emotion in his voice.

"About what?" I questioned, mimicking his tone.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye, as he moved to sit down next to me on the floor. He just sat there silently for a while, watching me work. Having him there, looking over my shoulder, made it even harder for me to concentrate.

He shifted nervously before finally speaking, "You know . . . I broke up with Brooke last year."

"Really?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "From what I heard, Brooke broke up with you." I glanced up at him, hoping to see some emotion cross his face, but his blank expression didn't even flinch.

How was I able to put up with his lack of emotion for two years? Logan was so different from Mark in that way.

I watched as he shook his head back and forth. "I messed up. I never should have broken up with you."

I picked my pencil up from where I had set it down and turned back to my work. "That was your choice and if I remember right, I did try a couple of times to get you back. At the time, you made it clear to me that you didn't want me around any more."

"I changed my mind," he spoke, as his hand inched closer to mine along the table. I moved my hand under the table before he could touch me. "Is there any way you would take me back?"

"You know I'm with Logan now."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't seen you two together much this week." The statement was verbalized in a way that made it sound more like a question.

"He's still my boyfriend," I stated firmly.

"Why are you dating him anyways? What do you see in him?" He pressed.

I sighed and looked down at the table, smiling to myself. "There's this . . . other side to him that he doesn't show to many people. He can be sweet, caring, and romantic when he wants to be."

There was a pause from Mark and then, "Will you at least think about taking me back?"

I shook my head, "You ruined it."

"Ruined it?"

I slammed my pencil back down onto the table and turned to face Mark head on. "You chose Brooke! You chose her over me. The only reason you are here now is because she broke up with you. Do you realize how that makes me feel?" He just stared back at me with a slight look of surprise. "You couldn't have Brooke, so you have come crawling back to me. That tells me that I'm your second choice, Mark. I don't want to be anybody's second choice!"

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to go out with her anyways."

Mark and I turned to see where the new voice was coming from and found Dana standing just a couple feet away.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Mark.

Dana folded her arms across her chest and switched her weight to the left leg. "She cheated on Logan over the summer." She stated.

I could since Mark turning back to gawk at me, while I stared at Dana in astonishment.

"What are you talking about?"

"Logan told me what happened." When I continued to stare at her uncomprehendingly, Dana let out an exasperated sigh before adding, "You and Daniel."

I could feel my face getting hot. "It wasn't like that!"

I heard Mark ask me something, but I was currently in my own little world. Images of Daniel came flashing through my mind.

"What exactly did Logan tell you?" I asked when I was eventually able to speak again.

I kept my eyes on her as she moved to take a seat on the other side of the table to face both of us. Everything suddenly seemed to be moving in slow motion.

She rested her arms on the table and leaned forward, a sly smirk appearing on her face. "He told me that he caught one of his friends with you in the middle of the night."

I could still feel Mark's eyes on me. Did he believe what Dana was telling us?

"It wasn't . . . I didn't . . ." I started to stammer. My throat was beginning to feel dry and it was becoming difficult to get my words out.

"You flirted with him at the 4th of July party and later that night, you invited Daniel to your room. You let him touch you." She prompted.

I franticly shook my head. "He flirted with me. I told him to stop." I could feel the tears threatening to come, but I forced them back. I didn't want Dana to see how much her words were hurting me.

Dana slowly shook her head back and forth, and used her tongue to create a tisking sound in disappointment. "I told Logan before that he shouldn't be with someone like you and this just helps make my point. You cheated on Logan and now you won't even come clean about it."

I franticly shook my head back and forth again. I didn't want Mark thinking that I had cheated on someone and I desperately wanted to get this cleared up with Dana. Knowing her, she would probably spread this around school. The students at PCA already had mixed opinions about my relationship with Logan. If this rumor started going around, that abuse would probably get even worse.

"I didn't do anything wrong." I pressed to Dana. I then turned to Mark, hoping to at least get him to understand. Maybe if other students did start talking about this, he would speak up on my behalf. "Daniel flirted with me at the party." I tried to explain to him. "He snuck into my room at night. He attacked me!"

"Yeah, right," I heard Dana sigh in annoyance. "You had to have done something. He wouldn't have come on to you for no reason."

Was she right? Was I responsible for what happened to me? For what Daniel had done to me? Did I lead him on? If I had, it was completely unintentional.

I felt a tear start to slide down my cheek and quickly wiped it away, before beginning to pack up my stuff and hurried out the door. I made my way down the corridor and out onto the campus. My mind was running through all these different thoughts as I headed in the direction of where I was going. Fear, anger, confusion, you name it I was thinking it. My heart was racing as I reached the door to Logan's room, my hand enclosing around the handle. Forget what the therapist said. I had to see him and I had to see him right now.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

I was checking my emails on the computer while Chase and Michael were busy coming up with new ideas for cartoons, which they had been sending to ToonJuice for the last couple of months.

"God!" Chase cried in exasperation. "Can't you think of one idea that doesn't include dolphins and/or kangaroos?"

"What's wrong with dolphins and kangaroos?" Questioned Michael, who was also getting frustrated. They had been at this for hours. I was just seconds away from snapping at them when a knock was heard at the door.

"Those ideas aren't good," Chase groaned as he turned away from his roommate to answer the door.

I heard Michael mumble to himself something about dolphins and kangaroos, before Chase spoke a name with a slight sound of both shock and concern. "Quinn?"

At the mention of my girlfriend, I spun around in my chair and looked at the person standing in the doorway. Sure enough, there stood Quinn, but it wasn't her presence that made me stare. She seemed to be in the middle of trying to fight off a panic attack. A couple tears could be seen traveling down her cheeks and a few strands of hair were out of place on top of her head as if she had been running. What worried me the most was the accusing look in her eyes when she glared at me.

What could I have done now? We've hardly seen each other lately.

Not bothering to ask questions, Chase quickly ushered the woman into the room. Without a word, both Chase and Michael proceeded to pack up their pens and notebooks, and hurried out of the dorm to give us some space to talk.

By the time they left, Quinn's scowl had softened quite a bit. That's when I finally made my move. I jumped up from the desk chair and practically ran over to her. Quinn threw herself against me, allowing the flood of tears to pour out of her. I held her close, combed my fingers through her hair, rubbed her back, and whispered encouragement in her ear, all in an attempt to calm her down. It took a couple minutes, but eventually she had calmed down enough to talk to me.

Reluctantly, she pulled back from me to see the tearstains she had left on my red t-shirt. "I'm sorry," she whimpered.

"Don't be," I assured her, before leading her over to the couch.

Once we were sitting down, I pulled her close to me, holding her tightly at my side with one arm, and used the other to wipe away the remaining tears from her face, and waited for her to talk. She laid her head against my shoulder; a few sobs could still be heard coming from her. I knew she was hurting right now, but I couldn't help but feel ecstatic about having her in my arms again. I couldn't believe how much I had missed her.

"Why do you keep hanging out with Dana all the time?" I heard Quinn ask, a slight quiver in her voice.

I frowned in confusion. "Is that what you were upset about?" I couldn't understand why she would be so concerned about that.

"Just answer the question," she stated in annoyance. As she spoke, she reached to grab the hand that wasn't wrapped around her and started to play with my fingers nervously.

I sighed. "She's a friend. Everyone else has been busy lately and you're trying to get over what happened during the summer." I shrugged my shoulders. "Dana seems to be the only one of you guys around a lot lately."

There was a long pause, during which Quinn kept her eyes down at our hands. Finally, keeping her voice low and speaking slowly, she asked, "If I asked you to, would you stop hanging out with her?"

I was shocked by her request. Sure, I knew Dana and Quinn hadn't gotten along that well in the past, but Quinn wasn't usually the type of person to order her boyfriend around.

I frowned, scrunching my eyebrows in irritation. "Is that what you're asking?"

I didn't like the idea of her trying to tell me what to do or who to hang out with. Especially with everything I had been putting up with for her lately. I knew that wasn't her fault, but I couldn't help it. I could feel all the anger and frustration that had been building up inside me since Quinn's assault start to bubble to the surface.

Not realizing the change in emotion that was going on in me, Quinn continued. "You know I don't like her, and then there's the fact that you used to have a crush on her."

"Is that what you're worried about? That my feelings for her are going to return?" It was hard to keep my growing irritation out of my voice. If she noticed any change in my mood, she didn't comment on it.

She bit her lip softly before going on. "That's one reason."

"The other reason?" I prompted.

She lifted her head from my shoulder to look at me. The angry glare had returned to her eyes. "You told her."

It took me a second to realize what she was talking about. "About Daniel? You told the rest of our friends about it. I didn't think it was a big deal." I couldn't hold it back anymore. As I continued my rant, my voice gradually became louder. "I have been putting up with a lot lately and I wanted someone else to talk to about it."

Quinn moved out of my arms and scooted farther down the couch. She gaped at me in bewilderment. "You've been through a lot? What about me?"

I could see the tears beginning to appear behind her eyes, but right then I didn't care. I needed the chance to get my resentment out and this was my chance to vent. "Do you even realize how hard this has been on me? Having to be there to comfort you and worry about you all the time?"

She was fighting to keep the tears from spilling over. "I know, I know this has been hard for you. I just need some time. You have to be patient with me. I . . ."

"I've tried being patient with you!" I fought back, interrupting her. "For weeks, I've been here to comfort you from nightmares and panic attacks! The reason I have been hanging out with Dana so much is because when I'm with her I can relax! I don't have to worry about what I say around her or have to comfort her all the time! She listens to what I have to say. Do you realize how nice that has been since this whole thing happened? Lately, I have been listening to you and your problems. It's been nice having someone listen to me for a change! You won't even let me kiss you!" The last part I added as an afterthought.

By now the tears had started to run down her cheeks again. "If Dana has been so great lately, then why don't you just date her instead? If she's always listening to your problems then she obviously cares about you too!" She pushed herself to her feet and turned to face me. "She doesn't have any sexual attacks in her past! If you want to make out with someone, she's probably more than willing to take my place!" She spun on her heels and stomped her way to the door, picking up the bag she had left leaning against the wall by the door. Her hand was on the knob when she turned back to look at me one last time. "She blames me."

"What?" I stared back at her. My mind was still focused on being angry. I didn't fully comprehend what she was telling me.

"Dana just sat down to talk to me. She told me that you told her what had happened over the summer." She paused for a second to let this sink in before going on. "She blames me! She thinks it's my fault! That I must have led him on somehow!"

I was shocked. Dana was blaming Quinn for the assault? I knew Quinn had nothing to do with what had happened. Daniel was responsible for everything that happened that night. Had I said something to Dana to make it sound like Quinn was the one at fault?

Quinn's face was covered with fresh tearstains. Her eyes were turning red and puffy. Her shirt was wrinkled against her skin from the position she had been laying in with me. Her knuckles were turning pale from their tight grip on the doorknob. Even so, she still looked beautiful standing there in the doorway. These past couple of weeks may have been hard, tiring, and frustrating, but that didn't mean I wanted to lose her.

I moved to stand up and took a couple steps towards her. "Quinn . . ."

She shook her head. "Don't . . . Just leave me alone." She said, choking back a sob, and then she was gone.

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I hurried down the corridor to the exit. I charged at the door, forcing my way outside, and sat down on the bench to the left of the entrance. I rested my hands on my knees and bent forward, concentrating on my breathing. I really didn't want to go into a full-blown panic attack out in public. I needed to calm myself down.

Gradually, my racing heart came back under control. Once I could breathe again, I sat up straight and wiped away the remaining tears from my face.

I probably looked horrible after all the crying I'd done in the past two hours, but I really didn't want to go back to my room. Zoey and Lola were both out somewhere, which meant if I went back now, then I would be alone with my thoughts. I didn't want to think about anything. Given that opportunity, I knew my mind would either go to Dana, Logan, or Daniel. All three were people I didn't want to think about right now. It would just lead to more crying.

Instead, I decided to take a walk around campus. Sitting still made me restless. It would be best to keep moving and maybe I could find something to do to occupy my time.

I headed past the dorm buildings and started to make my way towards the other side of campus. As I walked, everyone I passed by appeared to be so happy today. Students were laughing with their friends and passing Frisbees around. Girls had blankets spread out on the grass and were gawking at cute boys that walked by them. It made me feel even more depressed to see how relaxed and carefree everyone else seemed to be.

As I passed by one of the school buildings, I spotted Zoey, Chase, and Lola talking to someone on the side of a courtyard. The stranger had his back facing me, so I couldn't see his face. Lola was the first of my friends to notice me and waved me over. A small smile grew on my face. This was the perfect distraction that I was looking for.

I started to make my way over to a couple stairs that led down to the quad. I had just stepped off the last step when the person that I hadn't recognized turned around to see whom my friends were waving at. As he glanced my way, the boy's shaggy brown hair fell into his dark blue eyes. I froze in shock as my eyes met with his, terror overtaking my body.

The kid appeared to recognize me right away as well. His thin lips grew into a smile and he waved to me in greeting. This action could easily be depicted as friendly to anyone who didn't look closely at the boy's eyes. It may have been my imagination, but I could swear the kid was sending me a mix of hate and want in that stare.

I could hear my friends calling me with worried questions, wanting to know if I was okay, but I couldn't take my eyes off the boy. It took me a minute to realize that I could move my legs and I slowly took a couple steps backwards. As the kid's expression began to change on his face, I turned to make a run for it, but my shoe scraped against the bottom step, causing me to trip. I caught myself with my hands to prevent my face from making contact with the pavement. Ignoring the stinging on the palms of my hands, I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled my way back up the staircase as quickly as I could in my panic. As the pounding of my heart sped up for the third time today, I dashed back to my dorm room as quickly as possible.

He was here. Daniel had found me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

After Quinn left, I sat dumbfounded on the couch. My mind spun back over everything that I had just said to my girlfriend.

_"Do you even realize how hard this has been on me? Having to be there to comfort you and worry about you all the time? For weeks, I've been here to comfort you from nightmares and panic attacks!" _

How could I have said that to her? After everything she had already gone through, I had blamed her for making my life harder. She's the one that had to endure something that can only be described as the worst experience of her life and I had accused her of not handling things well afterwards, and I hadn't just stop there.

_"The reason I have been hanging out with Dana so much is because when I'm with her I can relax! I don't have to worry about what I say around her or have to comfort her all the time! She listens to what I have to say. Do you realize how nice that has been since this whole thing happened? Lately, I have been listening to you and your problems. It's been nice having someone listen to me for a change!"_

I had basically just told her that I had been enjoying my time with Dana more than my time with her. Then there was what Quinn had told me right before she slammed the door and left me here.

_"She blames me! She thinks it's my fault! That I must have led him on somehow!"_

How could Dana do that? Blaming Quinn for what happened that night? What did I say to Dana to make her think that it was Quinn's fault? I didn't blame Quinn for the incident, and I certainly didn't tell Dana that Quinn did something wrong.

Quinn had asked me not to hang out with Dana any more and after hearing what she had said to her, I couldn't really blame her for wanting me to keep my distance. Dana was accusing Quinn of leading Daniel on. As Quinn's boyfriend, was it right for me to continue to hang out with someone who thought that this whole thing was my girlfriend's fault?

I needed to find Dana, straighten out this whole situation and figure out where I stood with her, and then there was Quinn. I had let my frustration over the situation get to me and now I needed to fix this. Quinn was my girlfriend, not Dana. I needed to focus on helping her get over Daniel.

Getting up from the couch, I grabbed my phone and slowly began to make my way over to the girl's dorm building. I wasn't sure if Quinn would even let me in the door right now, but I had to try.

* * *

As I turned around the corner of one of the campus buildings, I came into view of the entrance to the girl's dormitory, which was now only about a hundred feet in front of me.

I started to turn and head for the entrance, but I caught a flash of something moving out of the corner of my eye. Before I even knew who it was, I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest. I stopped in my advance toward the door and turned to get a better look at who was running this way.

Quinn!

She was racing towards the girl's dormitory from the opposite direction, her hair flying back behind her.

"Quinn!" I called to her, but she didn't slow down or even look in my direction. Not hearing me, I watched as she continued towards the building and shoved her way inside. Seeing her disappear behind the closed door, I hurried after her.

I was just turning the corner that led down the hallway towards Zoey, Lola, and Quinn's room when I heard the slam of her door closing behind her. I hadn't upset her this much, had I?

As I slowly approached the closed door, I could hear her sobs coming from inside. Would she even want to see me right now?

I knocked lightly on the wood surface. "Quinn?" There was no reply, but her sobs softened a little. "Quinn, it's me. Can I come in?"

I heard some shuffling as she made her way closer to the door, but she hesitated before unlocking it. "Are you alone?" She questioned softly.

After hearing my answer, I heard the lock snap out of gear and the door opened a crack to give me my first look at the condition she was currently in. Her hair was a real mess now. Her face looked flushed and was covered with more tearstains. Her whole body seemed to be shaking.

Once she verified that I really was by myself, she pushed the door open and jumped into my arms, continuing the flow of the loud sobs that I had been hearing through the door.

Wrapping my arm around her tightly, I moved us into her room and closed the door. I then started to lead her over to the couch, but Quinn stopped me. She started freaking out and pointing at the door with one hand, while clinging to me with the other. "Lock it! Lock it!" She cried, terror covering her face.

Not sure what was going on, I stepped away from her for a second to re-lock the door and hurried to take her back into my arms. Panic was starting to over take me. Surely nothing I had done had caused this reaction. What could have happened to cause this during the short time that we were apart?

I moved her over to the couch and held her close, rubbing her back and whispering in her ear, letting her know that she was safe.

Nothing I did seemed to be helping her. Whenever she seemed to start to calm down from this attack, she seemed to get pulled back down again.

I pulled Quinn into my lap, wrapping one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. I started to rock her back and forth slowly. "I'm sorry," I whispered, hoping to finally calm her down. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I didn't mean it." At my words, her shaking seemed to start subsiding again. Thinking that I was on the right track to getting her back I added, "I'll stop hanging out with Dana. I promise. I won't see her anymore."

There was a pause, and then I heard a muffled reply from Quinn that sounded like "Thank you", but her breathing still wasn't coming under control.

I started rubbing her back again and kissed her forehead. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, she wrapped her arms tighter around me.

"Quinn," I cooed in her ear. "Please talk to me. What happened?"

"I saw . . . he . . ." she tried to communicate with me, but the sobs were taking control again.

I looked down at the girl in my arms. I put two fingers under her chin and forced her to look up at me. "You need to talk to me, Quinn. I can't do anything unless you tell me what's wrong."

I watched as she struggled to get the words out. "He's here," she finally managed. "I saw him."

"Who?" I questioned, not sure what she was trying to tell me.

Just before she gave me the name, an image appeared in my head of the boy as I suddenly realized whom she was talking about.

"He found me! Daniel found me!" she cried as she buried her head back into my shoulder.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

Minutes passed by with my head buried into Logan's shoulder, while the sobs continued to rack my body. I couldn't get myself under control.

Daniel was here. I knew he was going to find me and now he was here at PCA. I knew that this time, if given the chance, he was going to rape me. I clung to Logan, believing that he was my only lifeline to being able to get out of this situation untouched.

Eventually, Logan started to whisper questions in my ear, trying to gather more information about what had happened. His voice had a deep raspy hint to it, which told me that he was trying very hard to control his temper. I knew he hated the fact that I was forced to go through the assault a couple months ago. His mind was probably filled with worry, thinking that something similar may happen again, and soon.

"Where did you see him?" He started, holding me close to him.

I took a couple deep breaths to steady myself before answering. "I s-saw h-him in the courtyard on the other s-side of campus. He was with our friends."

That shocked him. He pulled away from me slightly causing me to look up at him. "You saw him with our friends?!"

I nodded, before continuing. "He was talking to Zoey, Lola, and Chase."

He laid a hand on my cheek and used his thumb to gently wipe away some of my tears. "Did he see you?"

"Lola saw me first," I explained. As I carried on, I realized that my sobs were starting to subside. I wiped a couple more tears from my face before going on. "Daniel turned around to see who she was looking at."

I watched as Logan lightly bit the inside of his cheek, thinking. "Did he say anything to you?" He asked, brushing his hand through my hair. "Did he threaten you in anyway?"

I shook my head. "He didn't say anything to me." Now that I had my breathing back under control, I moved off of my boyfriend's lap to sit next to him on the couch. He placed an arm around me, still holding me close to his side. "He smiled and waved at me." I paused, not wanting to go on.

Logan seemed to realize that there was something more that I wasn't telling him. He placed his free hand on top of mine and rubbed his thumb across my wrist for encouragement.

"His eyes," I breathed out, barely above a whisperer. "He had the same look in his eyes as that night when he flirted with me."

**_Logan's Point of View _**

I could feel the anger seeping through my body. Daniel was eyeing her again?

The last time Quinn was attacked was in the middle of the night and I wasn't able to stop everything from taking place. I did get there in time to prevent Daniel from raping her, but he still gone that one step too far. He had sexually assaulted my girlfriend. I couldn't let him do that again. I couldn't let him touch her again.

My eyebrows scrunched together and a frown appeared on my face as I tried to think of something, anything that I could do to help protect my girlfriend. She couldn't go through that experience again. I had to do something to prevent this from occurring.

I held my girlfriend close to my side as I tried to think through all of my options. Thinking wasn't really one of my strong suits; which was one reason why I had a D average in all my classes. The only things that kept running through my head were the look on Daniel's face when he had denied flirting with my girlfriend and the boredom that he presented after attacking her.

As these events began to crawl through my mind, my anger gradually grew into fury. There were probably more rational options, but the only thing that I really wanted to do was beat up the asshole that caused my girlfriend so much pain and fear.

I pulled my arm away from her shoulders and scooted towards the edge of the couch, preparing to stand up. Before doing so, I turned to look at Quinn one more time. "Stay here. Lock the door behind me." I then got up, and started to march towards the door.

"Wait!" Quinn cried. I was halfway to the door when I turned to look back at her. She had gotten up from the couch and had taken a couple steps forward. "Where are you going?"

"To find Daniel," I replied, moving to unlock the door and headed back down the hallway towards the exit, with only one thing on my mind.

* * *

Emerging outside, I headed in the direction that I had seen Quinn running from just a couple minutes ago, my feet taking me as fast as they could, heading towards the courtyard where she had told me the encounter had taken place.

About a third of the way there, I spotted Zoey and Lola heading towards me, probably on their way back to their dorm room. Chase and Daniel were nowhere in sight.

With my fists clenched at my sides, I stormed over to them.

"Where is he?!" I growled between my teeth.

They stared at me with a slight look of apprehension written on their faces.

"Where's who?" Zoey questioned cautiously.

"Daniel!" Who else would I be talking about? "Quinn told me she saw you guys talking to him!"

The two of them still seemed confused. "Why are you looking for Daniel?" Lola added. Why wouldn't they just answer my question?

"Why would you even talk to him in the first place? What did you say to him?" I prompted farther.

They shrugged in unison. "He was cute." The blonde explained while the brunette just smiled and nodded in agreement.

This whole conversation was starting to feel pointless and frustrating.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "You both have boyfriends!" Why would they talk to him just because he's cute? "What did you say to him?"

Zoey shrugged again before answering. "We just talked. Got to know him more."

"Yeah," Lola jumped in. "We told him what room we are staying in. Said he could come by sometime to hang out if he wanted."

"You what?!" I stared at them in astonishment. "Why would you do that?!"

"Relax," Zoey chimed in. "We're allowed to hang out with other boys outside of our relationships."

"That's not the point!" I cried, my anger boiling over. "You told Daniel where Quinn is!"

Finally, I saw the realization cross over their faces. This was that Daniel, the one that attack their friend. The one that has been the cause to of their friend's worry and anxiety, and they had just told him where to find Quinn.

"That explains her reaction to seeing him," Lola gushed to Zoey.

With this information in my mind, I turned and sprinted back the way I had come, hoping that I was wrong.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

My feet pounded against the cement as I picked up the pace trying to get back to the girl I loved more than anything. As I raced back towards the girl's dormitory, I felt my heart start to hammer in my chest. I couldn't let Daniel hurt her again. I had to get to her. I had to make sure she was okay.

A dull throbbing sensation started to take precedence in my head, along with a ringing in my ears. Sweat was starting to drip down my forehead as I moved through the heat of California.

It didn't make any sense to me. Daniel knew that the police were after him. Why would he come to find Quinn at school with so many people around? It seemed like a pretty bold move to walk right onto a campus to find and attempt to attack a young woman.

Why did I leave her alone? I had let my anger at Daniel take over and left her in order to beat some sense into my former friend, but in doing so I had left Quinn alone and defenseless. I had attempted to protect my girlfriend from a potentially dangerous person before anything bad could happen to her, but in the process I may have left her to fight off her assailant by herself.

As I passed by yet another school building, I had to start yelling at people to get out of my way. There were several groups of students just standing around in the middle of the path. I ended up having to push and shove my way through some groups in order to get to my destination even faster. I could feel the kids eyes staring after me as I hurried past them, and shouts of protest could be heard coming from the bystanders, but I didn't even register any of this. All I was focused on was making it back to Quinn.

Turning a corner, the girl's dormitory finally came into view. Seeing what was in front of me, I came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the pavement, breathing hard.

Two police cars were parked by the curb next to the dormitory. As I turned towards the entrance, I saw two men dressed in police uniforms standing like guards in front of the doors. Kids could still be seen coming and going from the structure, as they gazed in bewilderment at the men as they passed by. So they weren't on lock down . . .

As I moved closer, I recognized one of the officers. It was Sam Kidwell. Him and his partner, Aidan Witwer, were the officers assigned to Quinn's case. I didn't recognize the officer standing with Kidwell though, and Witwer was nowhere in sight.

"Mr. Kidwell?" I called as I approached. "What's going on? Is Quinn okay?"

"Logan," he acknowledged me before continuing. "Yeah, Quinn's fine. She called us a couple minutes ago and told us she saw Daniel on campus."

I nodded, "Yeah, she told me. I haven't seen him though. Has he come by?"

"I haven't seen him yet," he responded gazing around, as if he was hoping to spot him in the crowd of kids. He then turned around and nodded in the direction of the girl's lounge, which was located right behind the closed doors. "Witwer is with Quinn now, calming her down." Turning back to look at me, he went on. "We have other officers spread out around the campus searching for Daniel. If he's still here, we'll find him." He promised me.

For some reason, his assurance didn't make me feel any better. Daniel was out there somewhere and he knew where Quinn was. Yet, we still had no idea where he was or what exactly he was planning to do.

"Is Dean Rivers aware of what's going on?" I asked, looking around at the students walking by. If police really were searching the whole campus it wouldn't be long before everyone started asking questions.

"The Dean is with Quinn now. Her parents have been called as well."

I turned back to the officer. "You called Quinn's parents?" They would just freak out and want to take their daughter back to Seattle where they believed she would be safe. Why call them and get them all worked up? The police were here. Quinn was safe right now.

"The Dean called them, letting them know everything was under control." He paused for a second before resting one of his hands on my shoulder. "We are going to find him, Logan."

I nodded for his benefit, but I wasn't so sure anymore. "I'm going to check on Quinn. Let me know if you find him?"

"Of course," he answered, before moving aside slightly to give me room to head inside the dormitory.

* * *

Dean Rivers, Aidan Witwer, and I hung out with Quinn in her dorm room, waiting to hear some news about Daniel's capture.

As we waited, I sat with Quinn on the couch, my arm draped around her shoulders. Dean Rivers had taken a seat on the foot of Zoey's bed. He was leaning forward with his hands on his knees, tapping his foot impatiently, while the police officer spent most of this time pacing around the room. Occasionally, voices could be heard coming from the radio static, but he never picked it up.

Not much was spoken between us during the hours that passed like that. Every now and then, Witwer would question Quinn about what happened with Daniel that night almost three months ago or about today. He asked me a couple questions as well about Daniel's hobbies and interests, probably trying to piece together where he could be right now; what he might be doing.

Hours slowly passed by like this until Zoey and Lola eventually returned to the room.

"Quinn!" Lola cried, rushing over to her friend, wrapping her arms around her. Pulling away from the hug, she asked, "Why didn't you tell us who he was?"

"I can't believe he was the one that attacked you. He seemed so nice when we talked to him." Zoey stepped in before Quinn could answer Lola.

"You are the women who talked to Daniel today?" The officer asked, gaining sudden interested in the conversation. Turning to face the police officer, both of the girls nodded their heads in response. "Has an officer questioned you girls yet about what happened?"

Lola shook her head, while Zoey responded with, "No, not yet. We can show you where we saw him if you like."

"We ran into him at the courtyard right across from the bookstore," Lola added.

Aidan Witwer continued to question the girls for a couple minutes, and then stepped into the hallway to use his radio to report to his partner who was still supposedly standing guard outside the building.

Lola joined Quinn and I on the couch, while Zoey sat down with Dean Rivers to talk quietly to him.

"Quinn, why didn't you tell us that was Daniel?" Lola gushed. "We would have sent him away."

She shook her head back and forth before answering. "What was I suppose to say? He was standing right there. I didn't want to be around him long enough to explain to you who he was." She turned away from Lola, and looked down at her lap. "I just wanted to get as far away from him as possible."

I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek to let her know everything was going to be okay. In response, she glanced up at me and gave me a small smile as a thank you.

Witwer returned a couple minutes later, looking pale.

The Dean stood up and was at the officer's side in two steps. "What's wrong?" He questioned the officer in a low voice. The officer turned, pulling the principal to the side of the room to talk to him in private.

As Lola worked on keeping Quinn entertained, I watched Dean Rivers to see how he reacted to what Witwer was telling him, hoping to get an idea about what was going on. The look that the officer had on his face when he had returned made me think it wasn't good news, and the Dean's reaction only intensified my worries.

After reassuring Quinn that I wasn't going far, I walked over to the pair wanting to know what the problem was.

"What's going on?" I asked Witwer. "Did you find him?"

He glanced over my shoulder at the girl that was the cause of all of this. He shook his head before looking back at me. "No one has been able to find him. Officers have been searching for Daniel all over campus. He seems to have disappeared again."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

Sam Kidwell and Aidan Witwer had been staying on campus for the last couple of days, either sitting in their patrol car or keeping a look out for their suspect by walking around the campus, but they usually kept close to the girl's dormitory.

Even with the police being close by, all the progress Quinn had made over the last couple of months seemed to have vanished overnight. The panic attacks were happening more frequently, and she was hardly eating anything. Quinn would only leave her room to go to classes, but only if I or one of our other friends walked with her there and back. Zoey and Lola told me that even her nightmares, which had just recently started to disturb her occasionally, were now back to occurring several times during the night.

"I don't know what to do anymore," I complained to my roommates. I was sitting on the couch in our dorm room, venting to my friends. "She seems to be getting worse."

"Why are the police having such a hard time catching this guy?" Chase asked, from the desk chair. "He's our age, right? How does he keep escaping like this?"

"I don't know," I groaned in annoyance. "But he was here, at PCA. As long as Daniel is out there, Quinn is not going to feel safe here anymore."

"Is Quinn still seeing that therapist?" Questioned Michael. "She might have some advice for her on how to handle all of this."

I nodded. "She has been seeing Mrs. Thomas every week since school started. Her next appointment is in a couple of days."

"You know," Michael added. "Quinn hasn't been doing anything lately besides sitting in her room and going to classes. Maybe you should try just taking her out. A date?"

I glanced up at him hopefully. "You think that would help?"

"Yeah," Chase nodded in agreement. "It would give her a chance to do something besides moping around all day."

"It would also help get her mind off of what has been going on with Daniel," Michael added, nodding along with Chase.

I gave the idea some thought. "Actually, Quinn and I haven't been out on a real date since the incident occurred. It would be nice to hang out with her again, just the two of us. Somewhere private." I said thoughtfully.

"There's that secluded section on the beach near the rocks. The two of you should be able to spend some time alone there without being interrupted," Chase advised.

I smiled at the idea of getting a chance to be alone with my girlfriend for a while. Alone time with Quinn had become a rarity lately. I couldn't wait to bring up the idea with her.

* * *

It took a little convincing, but I eventually got Quinn to agree to accompany me to the beach to have a picnic on the sand for dinner.

I called in a favor with Michael to make us his special ravioli recipe for our main course. Along with the pasta, I got a fruit salad to be our side dish and a cheesecake for dessert.

We walked hand in hand down a wooden walkway that took us right onto the beach. Some of the boards were partly hidden under the sand due to the long years of usage from other students. Eventually, the feel of the wooden planks under our sandals disappeared only to be replaced by our feet sinking slightly into the loose granular substance as we continued towards the ocean.

It felt so good to be out with my girlfriend. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath through my nose, letting the salty smell of the ocean take ahold of me and focused my attention on the sound of the waves crashing against the shore.

While I was enjoying the feel of the ocean breeze rolling pass me, I could feel Quinn's body shaking in fear next to me. Opening my eyes, I gazed right and left down the shoreline. There was no one in sight.

I turned towards Quinn, sending a smile her way. As she stared back at me, I saw a look of terror in her eyes. My smile was quickly replaced by a frown as I gave her hand a light squeeze. "There's no one here, Quinn. You're safe."

I saw a small smile appear on her face, but I knew it was fake. Every instinct in her body was probably screaming at her to turn and ran back to her room and lock the door. I hated knowing that she was scared. A part of me wanted to take her back to where she felt comfortable, but I had to show her that she was safe outside of her dormitory.

Turning away from her, I lightly pulled her in the direction towards a large outcropping of rocks that ran perpendicular to the ocean. I set the picnic basket that I had been carrying down a couple feet from the rocks and held out my hand to take the blankets from Quinn. I put one of them down on top of the basket and worked on spreading the other out flat on the sand. We took a seat on the blanket and I started to pull out the food and utensils.

As we started to fill our plates with food, I noticed that Quinn's hands were shaking and she kept looking around at the scenery in fear. She set her plate of food down on the ground. "I want to go back," she whispered. I could hear the quiver in her voice.

"Quinn . . ." I tried to protest and set my food down.

She shook her head at me. A few tears slid down her face. "Please, Logan. Just take me back to my room," she pleaded with me.

I scooted closer to her, pushing the plates farther away from us in the process. I put an arm around her waist and wiped the tears away with my thumb. "This is about Daniel?"

Burying her head in my shoulder, she whined, "Please, I want to go."

"Quinn," I cooed in her ear. "There is no one here. Daniel isn't here." The mention of his name seemed to make her cry harder. I pushed her away slightly, forcing her to look at me. "Look," I gestured to the sandy surface in front of us. "We are alone. You're safe here."

"But . . . Daniel," she moaned, tears soaking my shirt.

I laid a hand on her cheek and looked deep into her beautiful brown eyes, begging her to trust me. "If Daniel shows up here . . . do you really think I will let him do something to you? Do you really think I am going to let him hurt you again?"

She stared back at me with tearstained eyes. Not registering at first what was happening, she leaned towards me and lightly touched her lips to mine. She seemed to be testing herself. Seeing if she was ready to do it again with me.

I wanted to pull her closer to me and deepen the kiss. My whole body seemed to be screaming at me to do it, but I didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready. I didn't want to force her to do it and then end up driving her farther away from me. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited to see what she would do next.

**_Quinn's Point of View_**

For months I have put off kissing Logan, worried that having his lips on mine would cause me to remember Daniel and what had happened that night. The kiss Daniel had given me when he had me pushed up against the wall, the feel of his hands on me . . . Ever since the attack I had been trying to avoid anything that could cause me to have a flashback, but I didn't want to wait anymore.

I missed the feeling of Logan's arms wrapping around me and pulling me close to him. I missed the way it felt to be near him like that. I missed the taste of his lips on mine and I didn't want to wait any longer. I was tired of being scared of being with the man I loved.

Not giving myself time to rethink my plan, I leaned forward and pressed my lips lightly against his, waiting to see if my body reacted negatively to the contact in some way. To my relief, the small contact with his lips sent shock waves of pleasure throughout my body. Desperate for more, I clung to his shirt and kissed him harder.

I heard Logan let out a moan in pleasure as he moved a hand up to the back of my neck. The pressure of his hand on my skin sent a shiver down my spine. I pushed myself up onto my knees and hugged my arms around his shoulders, letting myself enjoy this moment of bliss.

Everything seemed so much brighter after that kiss. Logan and I ate our dinner, and talked happily with each other. I smiled and laughed at his jokes, allowing Daniel to creep to the back of my mind to worry about later. Right now, I was determined to enjoy my alone time with my boyfriend.

When we had finished eating, Logan stood up and took off his t-shirt, letting the article of clothing drop onto the picnic blanket, and started to head towards the ocean. He turned around to face me, walking backwards to the water as he talked. "Come on," he called, gesturing for me to follow him. "Let's go swimming." I laughed at him. It was hard to say no to him when he had that goofy grin on his face.

Trusting Logan, I stood up and took off my shirt to uncover my dark blue bikini top. I left on my purple Nike shorts and chased after my boyfriend.

Logan ran on ahead of me and dived under the salty water, only to come back up several feet away as he turned back to look at me.

I walked into the ocean until the water was almost up to my thighs before swimming the rest of the way over to Logan. By the time I reached him, he had spread out on his back, floating on the water. He had closed his eyes against the glare of the sun.

Deciding to have some fun with him, I waited until I was within a couple feet of Logan and then splashed some salt water onto his face. His eyes instantly snapped open in surprise at the unexpected contact to his skin.

I moved backwards as quickly as I could in the water, trying to hold back my laughter at his reaction. I managed to get back to where the water was up to my thighs before his eyes made contact with me and realization of what had happened crossed his face.

"Oh, Pensky," Logan growled, sending me a mischievous grin. "You're gonna wish you hadn't done that."

A cheerful scream escaped my lips as I turned and started heading back towards the shore, feeling the wet sand beneath my feet. When the water level was down closer to my knees, I turned and started heading down the beach.

I couldn't help but giggle as I heard Logan catching up to me from behind. It wasn't long before I felt my boyfriend's arm snake around my stomach. "Gotcha!" He exclaimed in victory, as I let out a cry of surprise when he pulled me close to his body, and dunked us both under the water.

Logan spun me around in his arms under the water, so when we came up for air I was facing him. I coughed out some of the salt water that I had swallowed and continued to giggle as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

I heard Logan laughing as I felt him brush the hair out of my eyes before leaning his forehead against mine, and looking into my eyes.

"You okay?" He asked in his soothing voice. I loved it when he talked to me like that. I nodded, smiling back at him.

He placed a hand lightly on my cheek and rubbed his thumb gently across my skin. "I missed that laugh," he said sincerely. He then moved in to kiss me passionately on the mouth. I didn't want this day to end.

* * *

Once we had dried off some, Logan and I decided to eat the dessert he had brought for us as we watched the sunset. He cut off a piece of the cheesecake and placed it on a plate, handing it to me before getting his own slice.

We moved back so we could lean against the rocks as we ate, sitting close enough for our shoulders to brush against each other.

As the sun began to set below the horizon, the blue sky started to get replaced by yellow and orange.

"I'm sorry," I said, as I looked at the sky.

"About what?" Logan questioned in shock.

I leaned forward to set my now empty plate down on the blanket, before leaning back again. "About how I have been acting lately," I pressed. "Wanting to stay in my room all the time. Only coming out when someone is with me. I just . . . can't help it."

"It's fine," he assured me, pushing his plate away from him so he could wrap his arm across my shoulders. He then leaned down to whisper in my ear. "I understand you're scared, Quinn, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

I smiled at him and nodded slightly. "I know."

Logan paused for a second, while looking at me. He seemed to be considering something. He then moved away from me to grab something out of the picnic basket. When he came back to join me he had a small white box in his hand.

"I have been carrying this around with me for a while, trying to find the right moment to give this to you." He explained, before handing me the container.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling the smooth surface of the box.

A nervous smile was playing on his lips. "Just open it," he begged.

I looked down at the white box in my hand and flipped up the lid to reveal a ring. The design on the ring showed two interlocking hearts; one was silver, like the rest of the ring, while the other heart was painted in gold. In the center of each heart was a small diamond. I loved the ring instantly and my eyes lit up in excitement.

"It's a promise ring," Logan explained.

I looked up at him in surprise. "You're . . . giving me a promise ring?" I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face.

Seeing my face light up at the news, his nervous expression changed into a smirk. "Yeah, I wanted to know if you would wear it."

I looked back down at the ring, happy tears coming to my eyes. I knew Logan loved me, but this ring meant that he was one day hoping to marry me. Giving me this gift was his way of telling me that he wanted to be with me forever. I couldn't think of anything that would make me happier.

Turning back to look at my boyfriend, I nodded my head in excitement. "Of course I will."

Logan gently took the box out of my hands. Taking the ring out of the case, he set the box aside in the sand. Reaching for my left hand, he slid the jewelry onto my ring finger.

The sky was just starting to change to a red hue across the horizon as Logan moved to rest his hand on the side of my face, his fingers brushing against the back of my neck.

"I love you, Quinn. More than anything."

I grinned, happy tears pouring down my cheeks. "I love you, too."

Logan then leaned in to capture my lips with his. I closed my eyes and moved my lips against his, pulling him closer to me.

I really needed this, a full afternoon just to be with my boyfriend. Right now, Daniel was the farthest thing from my mind.


	13. Chapter 13

*** WARNING! This chapter contains information about sexual assault. ***

* * *

**Chapter 13**

_**Quinn's Point of View **_

The next afternoon, I had another appointment with my therapist, Mrs. Thomas. I spent the first twenty minutes of the session catching her up on everything that had taken place this past week; Dana trying to convince me that the attack was my fault, seeing Daniel on campus, the police showing up to search for him, and about how he had managed to escape from them for a second time.

"Have the police been doing anything lately to try and track him down?" Mrs. Thomas asked, clearly concerned about all the drama that had been occurring around me lately.

I shook my head before responding. "There's not much they can do until he chooses to show himself again. The two cops that were put in charge of the case have been hanging around campus lately, waiting for him."

She nodded in understanding. "Sounds like it's been a stressful week for you."

I just sat on the couch in her office, staring at my hands that were folded in my lap.

She tapped her pen against the folder that she had opened on her lap in front of her, waiting for me to speak. "Come on," she pressed. "Something fun has to have happened lately."

I looked up at my therapist, smiling at the memory of my date with Logan yesterday. "My boyfriend took me to the beach the other day."

"Really?" She asked, uncrossing her legs. "What all did you guys do?"

My smile grew bigger as I told her about the picnic basket Logan had brought with us and about going swimming in the ocean. I even mentioned to her the gift that he had given me.

Not wanting to take it off, I had slept with the ring on last night. Knowing the meaning behind the piece of jewelry, I never wanted to take it off my finger. As I talked about the date with my boyfriend, I played with the promise ring, spinning it around.

When I had finished talking, Mrs. Thomas replied with, "You seem to have a special bond with Logan."

Still smiling, I looked back down at the interlocking hearts. I nodded my head before looking back up at the therapist. "I really like him. He always makes sure I'm safe and makes me feel special. He's a good guy."

"It's great that he makes you feel like that. I'm glad you have someone that you can trust with everything that you have going on lately, but I still don't want you to rely on him for everything. Make sure you two continue to have time away from each other as well. Okay?"

I nodded. "I know."

Mrs. Thomas made a couple of notes on the papers in her lap before closing the folder and turning to look at the clock on wall behind her. We still had fifteen minutes left in our meeting. Turning back to me she said, "Why don't we leave it there for the day? Unless there is something else you want to talk about?"

I shook my head back and forth, a little too excitedly.

Since my appointment today was scheduled in the evening, it was going to be getting dark outside by the time I left. Logan had promised me that he would come by to walk me back to my dorm room so I wouldn't have to make the trip by myself in the dark. Leaving early simply meant that I could see my boyfriend sooner.

I scheduled my next appointment with the therapist for next week and headed out to the lobby to text Logan that I was ready to go. I took a seat by the window to wait for him.

The sun was already starting to sink below the horizon when Logan texted me back saying that he had gotten caught up with something, but that he would get here as soon as he could. I smiled to myself as I read the message he sent me, insisting that I stay inside until he arrived.

A couple minutes passed before the receptionist, got up from her desk to approach me. She had both a purse and a laptop case hanging from her shoulder, which made it appear as if she was about to leave.

"Are you planning to be here much longer? We are going to have to lock up for the night soon." She said, proving my suspicions correctly.

"My boyfriend is going to be here soon. He wants me to wait here for him."

She thought this over for a couple seconds before replying. "You can stay here until Mrs. Thomas leaves. She's supposed to lock up tonight. You'll have to be out before then, alright?"

I nodded in understanding and turned around in my seat to watch her head towards the parking lot.

Starting to get impatient, I began to tap my foot nervously against the marble floor as the minutes slowly started to tick by. About ten minutes later, at the time when my appointment was supposed to have ended, I received a text from Logan saying that he was on his way.

Hearing what sounded like a door opening, I looked up from my phone to see Mrs. Thomas stepping out of her office.

"Quinn?" She called as she approached me. "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Logan. With Daniel still being on the loose, he doesn't want me walking back to my dormitory alone in the dark." I explained, hoping she wouldn't make me leave yet. I could feel my stomach start to twist in knots at the idea.

"How much longer is he going to be?" She questioned.

"He just texted me," I said, holding up the phone that was in my hands. "He's on his way here now."

She let out a breath in irritation. "I really have to get home, Quinn. Can you wait for him outside?" She pointed to a bench that was placed close by, outside the window. A street lamp was on, standing to the left of the bench. "You can wait for your boyfriend out there." Seeing the apprehension on my face she quickly added, "You said Logan was on his way. You wouldn't have to wait long."

She seemed to really be in a hurry. I doubted that she would have tried so hard to kick me out otherwise. Not wanting to put up a fight with my therapist, I reluctantly agreed and stepped out into the night. Besides, Logan said he was only a couple minutes away. What could possibly happen in the short time it would take for him to get here?

I pushed the door open and headed over to the bench to wait, while Mrs. Thomas turned to lock the building behind her. "I'll see you next week, Quinn!" She waved to me as she left, leaving me alone in the dark.

The street lamp's dim glow was my only light, which in turn was only encircling the bench. It didn't create much of a light source for me to see what was going on in the surrounding area. This lack of sight caused my heart to start pounding in my chest and the feeling of nausea in my stomach intensified.

With my hands clasping tightly to the edge of the bench on either side of my knees, I could easily picture Daniel hiding out there in the darkness somewhere, watching me.

A couple minutes passed by like that. Eventually, I got up the courage to turn away from the darkness to pull my phone out of my purse to check for any messages from Logan. My phone didn't show anything new and I stuffed the device back into my bag.

Glancing around at the night, the darkness seemed to be engulfing me into its grasp. I pictured my only light source blinking out and forcing the night to surround me in its jet-black cover. In my mind, I was being pulled deeper and deeper into a dark abyss, struggling for air.

Desperate to escape from the growing darkness, I held onto my purse tightly and got up from the bench, making a mad dash in the direction that I believed led to the safety of my dormitory.

I had only taken about twenty steps outside of my light source when I bumped into somebody, hard. I felt the figure grab ahold of my upper arm to keep me from falling over. Believing that this body belonged to Logan, I clung to him and let my tears spill down my face.

The boy quickly pulled me by my arm towards another lamp that was set up right by the curb that separated the parking lot from the sidewalk. This seemed strange to me for he was leading me in the opposite direction from where the girl's dormitory was located, but I didn't fight him on it. That is, until we got closer to the light.

As the teenager walked under the streetlight, I got a glimpse of his shaggy brown hair and my body instantly tensed up. Feeling the change in my posture, the boy turned around to grin at me and I was able to catch the look of triumph in the kid's dark blue eyes.

Daniel gripped my arm tighter in his hand as he pulled me towards him. "Happy to see me?" He taunted with a smirk.

I tried to scream, but no sound would come out of my mouth. Instead, I attempted to pull away from him as hard as I could, desperately wanting to break free of his hold, but it was no use. He had me.

Pulling me closer to his body he wrapped an arm around my waist making it even harder for me to force my way out of his grasp. "Don't struggle," he whispered threateningly in my ear, as a shiver ran up my spine. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have too."

Petrified with fear, I did as he said. Tears poured from my eyes in terror as I thought about what could possibly happen next.

Daniel picked up his pace, and hurried me past the light towards a dark van parked by the sidewalk that I hadn't noticed before.

I felt the monster move one arm off of me, keeping a tight hold around my shoulders with the other, and dug in his pocket for the keys. I watched as he pushed a button on the key chain and the trunk flew open in response, the lights inside blinking on. I sobbed as I realized that was where he was planning to stow me.

Forcing me around to the trunk of the van, I saw that he had pushed down the seats in the back, only leaving the driver's and passenger seats upright. In the back of the vehicle, I also caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a pair of handcuffs and some rope.

Not giving me time to react, Daniel lifted me up slightly and shoved me into the back. He climbed in behind me and closed the trunk. As soon as it was shut he pressed another button on the key chain and we were greeted by the sound of all the doors locking simultaneously.

Now having me trapped inside his car, he turned to face me with an evil grin on his face. "Finally!" He shrieked in glee. "You're mine!"

In panic, I pushed myself backwards against the floor of the car trying to get away from him, but I knew it was pointless when my back bumped against the driver's seat.

It was at that moment, staring into the eyes of my kidnapper, that the lights in the car suddenly went out, causing Daniel to go instantly into shadow.

A cry of alarm escaped my lips as I sensed his form crawling closer to me. Hearing what sounded like metal being moved across the carpeted floor caused my sobs to become louder, and I felt my heart begin to hammer in my chest. I didn't need to be able to see my attacker to know that he had just picked the handcuffs up from off the floor as he continued to approach me.

I turned away and blinked in shock as the flashlight app on Daniel's phone was turned on. The light was focused more on me than anything else, so all I saw was his shadowy form coming closer to me.

"Leave me alone!" I cried in panic. "Stay away from me!"

I attempted to kick him away as he got closer, and only managed to get him in the arm. It wasn't hard enough to do any real damage to him, but it did cause him to cry out in surprise. This attack against him infuriated Daniel.

Lunging at me, he sent a quick slap across my face causing me to cry out in pain. Staring at him in shock, I reached a hand up to touch my throbbing cheek as my sobs became even louder.

It was the first time anybody had ever hit me.

"Shut up!" He demanded, his eyes glaring at me in fury. "Turn around! Put your hands behind your back!"

Not wanting him to hurt me again, I complied and felt him snap the handcuffs into place around my wrists and tightened them to his liking, making them dig into my skin painfully. He then ordered me to turn back around so he could tie the rope around my ankles.

When he was happy with his work, he focused his light source onto my face. I closed my eyes and turned away from the brightness, sniffling as the tears continued to fall. I squinted at the boy as he slowly lowered the flashlight down to take in my clothed body.

"Please . . ." I begged him through my flow of tears. "I want to go home. Please, just let me go."

Actually, what I really wanted was to see Logan. I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and hold me close to him. I wanted to feel his lips on my skin. But more than anything else, I wanted to hear him whisper to me in his comforting and soothing voice, letting me know that everything was going to be okay. I wanted to be with my boyfriend.

To my dismay, Daniel reached forward and squeezed my right breast through my shirt. Not having the use of my hands, I tried to squirm away from him in protest to his advances. My reaction towards his sexual act didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

Ignoring my pleas, Daniel sighed to himself. "Oh, we are going to have some fun tonight." He then stood up as best he could in the van and walked past me to the driver's seat and started the vehicle.


	14. Chapter 14

*** WARNING! This chapter contains information about sexual assault. ***

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

While Quinn was at her therapist appointment, Chase and I decided to play a couple rounds of pool. I usually played this game with Michael, who was a decent player, but he was studying for a history test he had tomorrow. This left me with Chase. Now, Chase was a nice guy and a good friend, but when it came to sports or anything remotely athletic, the guy was just awful.

As Chase bent over the table to line up his next shot, his hand slipped, causing the stick to hit the bottom of the cue ball, sending the white orb hurling through the air.

"Look out!" He cried, as the ball headed towards a couple individuals sitting on the couch watching TV. Luckily, the hard sphere simply bounced off the back of the furniture and hit the floor with a loud thud.

As Chase hurried over to retrieve the item, the teenagers turned around in their seats to glare at him. He apologized to the students before turning to head back to the game.

"Seriously?" I questioned him, starting to get pissed off. "That's the third time you sent the ball flying off the table!"

He just let out an annoyed groan as he placed the object back onto the green felted surface, and tried again. This time he sent the cue ball rolling down the length of the table, not hitting a single ball.

Before I could head over to line up my shot, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket and fished it out to see who had texted me. Seeing Quinn's name flash onto the screen, I opened the message to see what she sent. I typed a quick reply back before stuffing my phone back into my pocket and heading over to take my turn at the game.

"Who was that?" Chase questioned.

"Quinn," I answered, bending over to take aim at a striped ball halfway down the table. "Her appointment ended early."

He frowned at this and glanced out the window behind us. "It's starting to get dark. Didn't you tell her you would walk her back tonight?"

I sent the cue ball rolling towards my target, and with a quiet ping, the ball I was aiming at fell into one of the pockets.

"I am," I moved around the table to get back at the white ball. "Let's finish this game first."

* * *

With Chase's bad aim, it took longer than I would have liked to finally finish the game. By the time I was ready to head over to see Quinn the sun had completely set below the horizon. I sent her a quick text as I exited the lounge, letting her know I was on my way.

As I walked, I was kind of surprised to see only a few people outside around the campus. Sure, it was dark out, but it was only a couple minutes past seven o'clock. Usually there would still be several kids outside and hanging out with their friends.

The street lamps were spread out sporadically along the path I was heading down, giving me enough light to see where I was going. I was only a couple minutes away from where Quinn was when I spotted Michael heading back from the library with his girlfriend, Lisa, by his side.

"Hey, guys," I waved, as they got closer.

"Hey," Michael greeted back. "Where are you off too?"

I explained to him the situation with my girlfriend and in return, I asked him how his studying went. This only led to Michael complaining about his teacher, how hard his test was going to be, and that he didn't think he was going to be ready for tomorrow at all.

I rolled my eyes as he rambled on. I really didn't want to hear about all of this. I needed to get to my girlfriend. I could just picture her sitting in the waiting room by herself.

As Lisa turned to give Michael a couple comforting words, I finally excused myself and continued towards my destination, picking up my pace. I knew that Quinn was probably starting to get anxious.

I continued around the last building at a jog and as the office building came into sight, I instantly felt like something was wrong. The building had two windows placed on either side of the entrance. What surprised me was the fact that there didn't appear to be any lights on inside the structure.

Not panicking yet, I jogged over towards the door, expecting it to open at my touch, but nothing happened when I tugged on the handle. I moved over to one of the windows and leaned forward until my nose was touching the glass to peer inside the room. I didn't see anyone in the waiting room.

Now I was starting to panic. Where was she?! I told her to wait inside! If Daniel had came along and saw her . . .

I shook my head back and forth, trying to get rid of the thought. Quinn was fine. She had to be!

I turned around and frantically scanned the area in front of the building. A parking lot was set up about twenty yards from the structure and I only saw a few cars parked in the lot. Other than that, the only things close by were a bench and a couple streetlights.

Not knowing what else to do, I reached into my pocket and dug out my phone. I went straight to my contact list and scrolled down the names until I got to Quinn and pressed the call button. Heart pounding, I held the phone to my ear, praying that she would pick up.

As I waited to hear her voice, a faint ringing sound caught my attention from off in the distance. Following the sound, I headed over towards a streetlight that was placed near the parking lot. Resting on the ground in the middle of lit area was Quinn's purse. Seeing it just lying there in the middle of the walkway increased my terror.

This couldn't be happening! Quinn was okay! She had to be okay!

Slowly pulling the phone away from my ear, I hesitantly bent down and opened up the bag to pull out her cell phone. My name was still displayed on the screen, saying there was a call coming in.

As my breathing started to get uneven, I pressed a button on my phone to end the call. I then stuffed Quinn's phone back into her purse and picked it up.

Backing up a couple steps, I gave one more frantic scan around the lot. Not seeing anything else suspicious, I turned and ran in the direction of the girl's dormitory to find the officers.

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

Shivering, I let out a groan as I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, not wanting to wake up yet. What happened?

I laid the palm of my hand against the ground and felt the cold cement floor under my fingers. My head was throbbing and I had a horrible ringing in my ears. My body ached from lying on the hard floor all night.

I must have fallen asleep in the van from complete exhaustion. I didn't remember getting out of the car.

I moved a hand up to rub at my temples, trying to get the pain to go away as my whole body continued to shiver against the cold ground. It was strange. I could swear the feeling of the hard floor was pressing right against my skin. My eyes suddenly snapped open in realization.

Slowly, I pushed my aching body up into a sitting position and picked my glasses up from off the floor, sliding them into place on my nose. I then looked down at my figure, letting silent tears run down my cheeks. He had taken my clothes, leaving me in only my bra and panties.

Sobbing quietly, I stretched my legs out in front of me trying to get rid some of the ache in my body and heard a rattling sound. Only then did I feel the chains that he had tied around my left ankle. Following the chain with my eyes, I saw that the other end was wrapped several times around a nearby pole, and locked with a padlock. From the looks of it, I was only given a couple feet to move around in.

There wasn't much light in the room. My only source was coming from two small rectangular windows that were placed horizontally, about two-thirds of the way up the wall. From the looks of it, the sun was just starting to rise into the sky.

Wiping the tears from my face, I took a couple deep breaths to try and calm myself down. I needed to think. There had to be someway for me to get out of here, something I could do to protect myself from Daniel.

I let my eyes move around the room, trying to figure out where I was. There wasn't much in the room. The pole that I was tied to seemed to be in the middle of the space. To my left was a staircase leading up to the next floor. I figured this meant that I was in a basement, but where? How far away was I from PCA? . . . From Logan?

Trying my best not to think about it, I turned to look to my right and froze when my eyes came in contact with an item that usually didn't cause me any form of panic, but considering the circumstances . . . Laying in one of the corners against the wall was an old, dirty mattress. I didn't need to be a genius to know what Daniel was planning to use that for.

This time, I allowed the tears to run down my face in fear. Hugging my legs to my chest, I sobbed into my knees as my almost naked body shivered in the freezing basement.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

I rested my forehead against my knees, hugging my legs tightly to my chest, as I continued to cry. It was freezing in the basement, and without my clothes the cold air was hitting my exposed body.

Glancing up, I realized that there was a ceiling vent placed almost right above where I was sitting on the floor. I could've tried to move away from the vent a little, but I doubted it would have made much of a difference.

At first the cold air felt like it was pinching my skin, causing a slightly uncomfortable feeling that seemed to crawl over my body, but as some time went by in this dark, lonely basement, the cold air started to make me feel numb.

After awhile, the tears started to subside a little, but I still held my legs close to my body to try and help keep myself warm. At one point, as I sat in the fetal position, against my legs I could feel my nipples getting harder through my bra due to the temperature. This horrified me. If Daniel noticed it when he came down . . . he might get the wrong idea.

How could I have gotten myself into this mess? What did I do wrong? Why was this happening to me?

Trying to distract myself from my current situation, I let an image of Logan appear in my head. I closed my eyes tightly and let my boyfriend's image take over my mind; picturing his curly brown hair, his dark brown eyes, . . . his smirk. I could almost hear him telling me to hang on just a little longer. That he was going to find me and get me out of here.

My friends were probably freaking out by now. I could only imagine how worried Logan must have been when he finally got to the office building and realized that I wasn't there . . . and now I had been gone all night. They probably didn't get any sleep, wondering if I was okay . . . if I was hurt. I wished that there was some way for me to get a message to them. I wanted to talk to Logan. I desperately wanted to hear his voice.

Opening my eyes, I moved to rest my chin against my knees and looked down at my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something silver on my left hand. The tears were starting to mess with my eyesight, so I couldn't make out what the item was.

I frowned and brought my hand up closer to my face, blinking a couple times to clear my distorted vision. A small smile came to my lips as the interlocking hearts became visible to me.

I had almost forgotten that Logan had given it to me: my promise ring. That day on the beach had been the first time in awhile where I had felt completely safe and relaxed and happy. Was that really only two days ago? It seemed like a lifetime.

The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and each step gave out a slight groan as someone slowly descended the staircase. I barely registered any of this, as I was too focused on the memories of the ring.

"What are you smiling about?"

My head snapped up in shock at the unexpected voice to see my abductor staring down at me just a couple feet away. Daniel seemed to be holding something in his hand, but I was too concerned about the look in his eyes to worry much about the object he was carrying. He had seemed to be mocking me at first, but then it appeared to dawn on him that I had been looking at something.

Before I could react, Daniel bent down in front of me, setting whatever he had been holding down next to the pole. Hands free, he quickly seized my left hand by my wrist and pulled it closer to him so he could make out what I had been looking at. I placed my other hand down on the cold floor behind me, leaning back slightly, preparing to move away from him as soon as he let go of me.

After studying the ring for several long seconds, he turned his glaring gaze up at me. "Who gave you this?" Pure hatred was in his voice. I wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke coming out of his ears. He looked furious.

My eyes opened wide in complete terror and my breathing picked up. Seeing me smiling down at the ring, he obviously knew that the interlocking hearts meant a lot to me.

"Where did you get this?"

I just stared back at him in fear.

"Who gave this to you? Was it Logan?"

Tears started to pour down my cheeks and I attempted to pull my hand away from him. My reaction seemed to have answered his question.

Holding tight to my wrist, he reached up with his other hand, attempting to pull the ring off my finger. Instinctively, I closed my fingers into a fist to make it harder for him to pry it off of me. If he wanted my promise ring, he was going to have to fight me for it.

He spent about a minute trying to force my fingers open so he could rid me of the ring, but I held tight to the fist. I kicked my feet and tried to push myself away from him along the floor. When I realized that I wasn't going anywhere, I stopped struggling to get away and simply tried to get him to let go of my wrist, but it seemed pointless. "Stop it!" I cried.

At this, Daniel balled his hand into a fist and sent it flying into my exposed stomach, knocking the air right out of me. My tight hold on my fingers loosened as I struggled to get my breath back.

"I can't believe Logan has been dating you for this long. You!? You're a freak! A science nerd! Why is someone like Logan dating someone like you!?" He complained, forcing the ring off of my hand. He then stood up, holding his prize between his thumb and pointer finger as I stared up at him, wondering what he was going to do with the ring.

I watched as he turned his hand around in different directions, looking at the piece of jewelry from all sides. "And he's buying you presents? What was the occasion?"

By then, I had gotten my breath back. "It's a promise ring," I explained. For that one second, I wasn't scared about being in this man's presence. Here I was, naked, chained, and freezing in a basement, and all I wanted was to have my ring back.

"A promise ring!?" Daniel screeched, letting the ring fall into the palm of his hand and curled his fingers around it. This news seemed to infuriate him.

He reached down and grabbed a fist full of my hair and pulled, causing me to cry out in pain. I clawed at his hand, begging him to let go. Instead, he squatted down in front of me again, and got right into my face.

"When did he give it to you?" He questioned. His nose was almost touching mine.

"A couple days ago," I cried. I tried to turn away from him, but that just caused him to yank on my hair again.

"He wants to marry you!?" He yelled in astonishment.

He forced my head back so that I was looking up at the ceiling. "Yes," I cried. "Logan loves me."

Finally he let go of my hair and I reached a hand up to rub at my sore scalp.

"Huh," he gasped, standing up. "He loves you? If Logan loves you, then where was he last night? Where was he when I was stuffing you into the back of my car? Where is he right now!?"

"He's looking for me!" I yelled back, feeling brave again. "He probably went straight to the cops when he realized I wasn't there waiting for him!" It felt so good to finally stand up to him.

"Really? You're chained to a pole in a basement, and you still think Logan cares about you!?" He sent a quick kick into my side, causing me to bend over in agony. "Sorry sweetheart, but he's not coming for you. No one is! No one has any idea where you are!"

I held a hand over my new wound, trying to dull the pain, and took a deep breath to steady myself again. "Logan . . . loves . . . me," I said, stating each word slowly as I looked straight at him. "He's going to find me!"

I heard him mumble an insult under his breath before turning and heading in the direction of the staircase. At first, I thought he was going to leave, taking my ring with him, but instead of climbing the stairs he moved around to crouch down in the little nook space behind the steps.

I felt my heart start to pound harder in my chest as I waited for him to appear again. After a few seconds, I heard something being scraped across the floor and then small thumping noises as he moved some stuff around. What was he looking for?

When he returned a couple minutes later he had a hammer in his hand. Seeing it, my panic started to increase. Was he going to use it on me? Was he going to hit me with the hammer? I started to scoot away at his approach. The hammer was swinging by his side in one hand, while the other was clasped into a loose fist. I assumed my ring was still in that hand.

"The way I understand it, a promise ring symbolizes the want to commit between two people," he stated before coming to a stop a couple feet away from me. "What is Logan going to say when he hears you destroyed yours?"

I stared at him in confusion, not sure what he was getting at. I watched as he knelt down on the ground. He then placed my ring against the ground, pinching one side of it with two fingers in order to hold it upright. It wasn't until he started to lift the hammer over the ring that I realized what he was planning to do.

"No!" I shrieked just as he slammed the head of the instrument down right on top of the interlocking hearts. Ignoring my pleas, he started to lift the tool up in order to hit it again.

Not wanting to take the time to get to my feet, I quickly moved onto my hands and knees, and crawled frantically towards Daniel.

Just as the hammer was coming down for a second time, I felt a tug on my left ankle and looked back just long enough to see that I had extended the distance that the chains would let me go. Turning back to my kidnapper, I watched as he raised the hammer again.

"Stop it!" I screamed, tears pouring down my face as heavy sobs shook through my body.

I could already see it starting to bend out of shape. He was ruining it! He was deforming my promise ring right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

He continued this for about a minute. "There," he announced when he was finally happy with his work. He picked up the now mangled piece of jewelry and tossed it in my direction. "I wonder what Logan will say when he sees that."

I watched as he stood up and headed towards the stairs with the hammer. My tears had blurred my vision completely before Daniel had even started to climb the staircase. I waited until I heard the door slam behind him, before sitting back with my legs folded under me and let the tears fall for a while.

I didn't want to be here! Why couldn't I be with my friends right now? Where was Logan? What was he doing right now?

I wiped away some of my tears and turned to look up at the windows, which were my only access to the outside world. The sun was high in the sky by now. I figured it was at least noon.

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything today. Was Daniel planning on feeding me during my stay here?

Wanting a distraction from the thought of food, I turned to look down at my promise ring. The once majestic shine that seemed to radiate from it was gone. The silver surface was now covered in a countless number of cracks. I couldn't help but think of it as a glimmer of a once former love.

With tears trailing down my face, I picked up the ring that I had once loved and let it fall into the palm of my hand. With a finger, I traced over the crushed remains of the piece of jewelry. More tears started to form behind my eyes.

If a promise ring was a symbol to represent a commitment between two people, then what did a deformed promise ring mean?

I closed my eyes and forced the thought away before opening them again. The deformed ring didn't mean anything. Besides, just because the ring was damaged, it didn't mean Logan's feelings for me had changed. Logan still cared about me, and the fact that he gave me the ring in the first place meant that he wanted to spend his life with me. Daniel could not destroy that.

This made me feel a little better. A small smile appeared on my face at the thought and I turned my head in the direction of the stairs, before wiping away a couple of the tears that had spilled from my eyes.

Letting my hand fall into my lap, I stared in amazement at a small rectangle shaped object that was placed a couple inches from the pole I was chained to.

It couldn't be . . .

Not wanting to disturb the illusion, I slowly reached out my hand to touch the object. It was really there!

A cell phone! Daniel's cell phone! He left it behind.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the device lying in front of me. I sat there, dumbfounded for a couple seconds before greedily reaching for the phone, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest in excitement.

I instantly pushed the round, power button near the bottom of the phone to turn on the screen, and my heart plummeted seeing that it was locked. I needed to know Daniel's passcode in order to use the device.

Given my high IQ, I could figure out the combination and get my way in, but that could take time . . . and Daniel could realize he left his phone down here at any moment. I didn't know how much time I had to figure it out.

My body started to fill with anxiety and I stole a quick glance at the door at the top of the stairs. I didn't hear anything.

Turning back to the phone, I closed my eyes and took a couple deep breaths, forcing myself to relax. In order to do this, I needed to be able to think fast and focus on the work. I couldn't afford to start panicking right now. If I did that, I could lose my moment to get in touch with Logan.

I started by thinking back over anything I read about teenagers and cell phones. I remembered reading an article a while back noting that two of the most common number codes were the typical 1234, and going straight down the middle of the keypad, 2580. I gave both of them a try, but nothing happened.

Anxiously, I took another look at the door. Regardless of my effects, my heart was starting to pick up in fear.

I couldn't let Daniel catch me trying to get into his phone. Who knows what he would do if he caught me right now . . . I considered just setting the device back down where he had left it, but this may be my only chance to get a word out to someone on the outside to let them know I was here.

Biting my lip nervously, I turned once again back to the phone in my hands. What would Daniel use as his passcode?

Using birth dates was pretty common, but I didn't know when Daniel was born. As a wild guess, I decided to try the year he was born. Figuring he was born the same year as Logan and I, I typed in 1992 . . . and it worked. I was in!

Heart pounding, I hurried over to find Daniel's contact list, and found Logan's name. Clicking it, I placed the phone to my ear only to be greeted by a beeping sound. Confused, I pulled the phone away to look at the screen.

No signal.

I sighed; of course I wouldn't get a signal down here. Cellular radio waves don't effectively penetrate through the ground. It would be unlikely for me to get a call out while I was down here.

I took another look around the room I was trapped in. There had to be some way I could boost my reception. If I had a laptop, I could do the same thing that I had done in the 8th grade when my friends and I were stuck at that deserted beach. No such luck this time.

Turning around, my eyes met again with the two small windows that were my only source of light. There was a possibility, although slim, that I could get a call out if I was closer to the window.

Desperate for help, I carefully stood up and took a couple steps closer to the windows. I nearly tripped when the chain pulled at my ankle, but I managed to stay on my feet. I took a quick look back at the door. Still not hearing anything from upstairs, I started to raise the device closer to the windows.

"Come on . . . come on," I prayed, keeping my eyes glued to the top of the screen, hoping to see a bar appear.

I waved the phone around in the air . . . and I got it. One bar. Keeping the phone raised I quickly went back to the contact list, found my boyfriend's name, pressed the call button, and waited, praying that it would go through.

**_Logan's Point of View _**

Making it towards the girl's dormitory, I looked over towards the police cruiser in the parking lot. The car was parked in its usual location, right against the curb, with the officers; Sam Kidwell and Aidan Witwer, leaning against the hood at the front of the vehicle. The nearest streetlamp to them was several feet away, so I could only make out the movements of the dark shapes. I made a beeline in their direction.

"She's gone!" I announced, out of breath from my dash over here. "He took her!"

"Slow down, Logan," I heard one of them say. It was too dark for me to see which one spoke. "What happened?"

"Quinn," I choked out, trying to get my breath back while explaining to them what I believed had happened to my girlfriend. "She had her appointment with the therapist tonight. I was going to meet her there and walk her back to her room, but she was gone when I got there," I said, as I pointed back in the direction of the office building.

"You think Daniel took her?" One of them spoke up. The same dark figure took a step closer to me.

"I know he did," I growled. If he hurt her . . . if Daniel did anything to Quinn, I would kill him myself.

"Are you sure Daniel took her? She may have just left without you. Maybe she's back in her room now."

I shook my head. Something was wrong. I could feel it. "I told her to wait for me inside . . . and her purse."

I grabbed one of the officers by the arm and pulled him closer to the light source, bringing Mr. Witwer face out of the shadows. I held up the purse that I had picked up from the ground.

"Quinn dropped her purse. I found it outside of the building. She wouldn't have just left it there," I prompted. Sam came up behind his partner as Aidan took the bag from my hand and gave a quick look over its contents. "I'm telling you, something happened to her!"

Looking up from the bag, Aidan gave me a serious stare. He must have seen something in my facial expression that told him how sure I was that something bad had happened to Quinn, the panic I was feeling over my girlfriend's safety.

He glanced behind him at his partner. "Call the department," he ordered. "Tell them we have a missing teenage girl. I want everyone they can spare out looking." Nodding, Mr. Kidwell turned back to the patrol car to radio the police station.

This was just the start of one of the longest, most anxious nights of my life.

Sam and Aidan moved their home base into the girl's lounge, while I went to inform Lola and Zoey about what had happened. Hearing the news, they each hurried to the lounge to talk to the police about what was going to happen now. Zoey called Chase and Michael, and they came over to lend their support as well.

About a dozen police officers showed up within an hour of Mr. Kidwell's call in order to help in anyway they could.

I texted one of the officers an image of both Daniel and Quinn, which they downloaded onto a laptop one of them had and began to print off copies for each officer to take with them for the search.

Daniel's family had three cars. Not knowing which one he was driving I gave them a quick description of each to help them narrow down their targets on the road.

When they asked if I had any idea where he could have taken Quinn, I gave them his home address, but I doubted he would have taken her there. I was sure he would have taken her somewhere more private. I knew his family also owned both a beach house and a cabin, but both were several hours away. I didn't think Daniel would take Quinn that far, but I passed the information on to them just in case. I didn't know where else to tell them to look.

Aidan assigned a couple officers to check out each of the locations I gave them, while the others were told to scan the streets for them. When each officer present had the information they needed, they left to start the search. Sam and Aidan each had a radio for them to use to keep in contact with the search teams, so if they found anything, we would know right away.

While my friends each managed to get some sleep that night, my mind couldn't stop picturing Quinn terrified and alone somewhere. I couldn't get her face out of my head.

Was she okay? Was she hurt? Has Daniel done anything to her yet? God . . . if he touched her again . . . if he raped her . . .

I spent the whole night pacing back and forth in the girl's lounge, and yelling at the Sam and Aidan to do something. They kept trying to ensure me that they were doing everything they could to find her, but to me it just looked like they were sitting around doing nothing.

I just needed to know she was okay.

Eventually, the sun began to appear outside, bringing the start of a new day. Even though I had stayed up all night, I wasn't the least bit tired. Fear was keeping me going. I didn't think I would be able to sleep again until I knew that Quinn was safe. I needed her back.

As the morning hours passed by, I stayed close to the officers hoping to hear some news about my girlfriend. My friends had left for breakfast without me, but I didn't care. I was too stressed to worry about food. I doubted that I would have been able to keep anything down anyways.

By the time noon rolled around, the officers assigned to head out to each of Daniel's family properties reported back one-by-one saying they found nothing out of the ordinary.

I still wasn't hungry by lunchtime, but my friends convinced me to join them anyways.

"Come on, man. You need to get out for a little while," Michael begged.

"You can't stay in here all day. You'll just freak yourself out even more," Chase added.

Lola and Zoey each nodded in agreement.

Reluctantly, I agreed to join them for the meal, but I didn't even bother to buy any food. I wasn't hungry. As the others quietly chatted back and forth, and nibbled at their food, I sat in silence, worrying about my girlfriend.

It was my fault. Quinn was scared, alone, and possibly hurt right now because of me. I should have just left Chase in the middle of our game. I shouldn't have left her to sit in that waiting room by herself for so long. If I had headed out to get her when she had texted me, then this wouldn't have happened. She would be here, with me, right now. Knowing this just made my heart ache for Quinn even more.

God, I hoped she was okay.

"Logan," I heard someone call my name from across the table. Looking up, I saw Zoey holding an apple out towards me.

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry," I moaned in response.

"You need to eat something," Zoey said, starting to wave the apple in front of my face.

Why did she care rather I ate or not? Her friend was missing. How could any of them be hungry right now?

I snatched the apple out of Zoey's hand, took a bite, and glared at her as I set it down on the table. "Happy?" I snapped at her.

Before anyone could say anything in reply, my phone started ringing from where I had set it, face down, on the table. Flipping it over to see the screen, my eyes widened slightly in shock and my heart rate picked up in anticipation.

"Who is it?" Chase asked, noticing my sudden mood change.

"It's him," I growled, under my breath.

"Who?" he asked again, confused.

I looked up at him, fury in my eyes. "It's Daniel!" With that, I snatched up my phone and took a couple steps away from the group before answering the device.

"Daniel! Where is she?! I swear to God, if you have hurt her!" I shouted.

"Lo-an," was all I heard and my anger instantly washed away. "L-gan! Can –ou hear me?"

The connection was horrible, but I would recognize that voice anywhere. "Quinn? Sweetie, is that you?" I questioned, just to be sure.

"Lo-an, he-p me! Pl-se, I'm sca-ed!"

I may not have been able to catch every word clearly, but I could hear in her voice how terrified she was. I pressed the phone closer to my ear hoping to hear her better, but it didn't do any good.

"Quinn, is Daniel with you right now?" I needed to know if he was listening to her side of the conversation.

"H- up-airs," she cried.

"Listen, baby. I'm having some problems hearing you. The connection sucks . . . Can you tell me where you are?"

I heard sobbing coming from her end and then, "I don't kn-! I'm – base-nt some-ere."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. How was I going to find her?

"I got the police out looking for you, okay? We are going to find you! You hear me?" I pressed to her.

"Yes."

I turned around and started to head back to my friends. "Hold on a second, okay? Don't hang up!" I heard her muffled reply before, lowering the phone. I leaned forward, resting a hand on the table the group was sitting at. "It's Quinn."

"What?!" Lola cried out.

I gave a slight shrug. "She must have gotten ahold of Daniel's phone somehow."

Lola stood up, and started to make her way around the table to me. "Give me the phone! I want to talk to her!"

Chase moved to stand up himself and grabbed Lola by the arm to stop her advance. "No! Quinn might not have much time on the phone," he warned her, before turning back to me. "You need head back to lounge. Talk to the officers."

With that said, I turned and started to speed walk back to the girl's dormitory. I brought the phone back up to my ear as I headed in that direction.

"Quinn? You still there?"

"Yeah." More tears.

The girl's dorm wasn't far from the cafeteria. I could already see the building up ahead. "Listen, I'm going to give the phone to one of the officers, okay? Maybe they will be able to figure out where you are . . ." I wasn't sure if they would be able to get any information from Quinn right now, but by this point I was desperate.

I pushed my way through the entrance and hurried over to Sam and Aidan, who were sitting down behind the table that had their laptop and radio displayed on it. They were talking quietly between themselves as I approached.

I came up behind Sam and put my hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and held the phone out to him, desperation in my eyes.

"Quinn . . . she called me."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

As Sam Kidwell and Aidan Witwer worked on trying to figure out what was going on with Quinn, I went back to pacing nervously back and forth in the lounge. Eventually, I took a seat in one of the available chairs that faced the officers so I could keep an eye on them, but I couldn't stop fidgeting.

Zoey, Chase, Michael, and Lola walked in a couple minutes later and came over to join me.

"What's going on?" Michael asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to me.

I shrugged, as I studied the cops on the other side of the room. Sam was still speaking into the phone I had given him. "I don't know. They have been talking to Quinn ever since I got back here."

"Do they know where she is?" Zoey asked.

"Maybe they could trace the call," Chase added.

As I looked back over at the adults, Aidan seemed to be concentrating intently on something that was on the computer screen in front of him, while Sam switched back and forth from asking Quinn questions over the phone to informing his partner about what was being said.

Did they have something? Maybe they were trying to trace the call.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, Mr. Kidwell disconnected the call and set the phone down on the table before turning to talk to his partner.

I bolted up from my seat and stormed over to the officers. Leaning forward, I slammed my hands down on the table, causing the objects placed upon it to vibrate. "Well?" I demanded.

They both stared up at me in a moment of shock, but they quickly recovered from my outburst. As they explained to me what was going to happen next, I could sense my friends approaching from behind me.

"I attempted to trace the call, but the connection wasn't good," Aidan explained, gesturing to the computer in front of him.

"So, what does that mean? Did the phone call help you guys at all?" I heard Chase ask from behind me.

Sam shrugged. "All we could gather from Quinn was that she was trapped in a basement somewhere and Daniel has her chained to a pole, so she can't escape."

I froze. Shock crossed my face. That was one piece of information that Quinn hadn't informed me of while I was talking to her.

Daniel chained her? As quickly as the shock appeared, fury began to boil inside me. He had her chained up like a dog!

I slammed my hands against the table again before standing up straight to glare at the officers. "So you're telling me that you still have no idea where she is?!" My hands were clenched into fists at my sides.

While Aidan glared back at me in annoyance, Sam didn't seem bothered by my outburst at all.

"I assume you have Daniel's number programmed in here," Sam questioned, picking my phone up from the table. Nodding my head, he held the phone out to me. "Give us the number," he asked and I took the device from his hand. He then gestured to the laptop as he continued. "We can type his number into the search engine on our tracing software. As soon as Daniel takes his phone somewhere that it can pick up a decent signal, the tracker will pick it up."

Hearing this, I hurried around the table to stand behind Aidan and went straight to my contact list to get the number for him. Aidan typed the number into the box on his screen and pressed the search button on the system. A spinning blue circle instantly appeared on the screen, informing us that it was trying to connect with the phone.

"What do we do now?" Zoey asked.

Mr. Witwer gave us a shrug as he leaned back in his chair. "Now, we wait."

* * *

My friends stuck around with me in the lounge for an hour, hoping to hear some news about Quinn. As time passed though, each went off to work on their own stuff.

Lola was worried about a test she had to take on Monday, so she ended up heading back to her room to try and study some for it. Chase and Zoey joined her, saying they had a huge project due in a couple days and Michael had made plans to hang out with his girlfriend, Lisa, this afternoon and he eventually left to find her. They each asked me to call them if any news came up before leaving me alone in the lounge.

As my friends dispersed to go about their day, I took a seat on the couch that was facing the TV, with the police officers stationed behind me. Flipping through the channels, I tried to find something on that would keep my mind occupied, but my thoughts kept drifting off to Quinn. I eventually stopped on a basketball game, but I couldn't focus on what was happening on the screen.

"Who's winning?" A voice asked from my left. Turning, my eyes came in contact with Dana Cruz.

I sat up straighter on the couch and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not really paying attention to it."

Without being invited, she walked over and took a seat next to me. "Haven't seen you lately," she noted, then turned and gestured to the police officers. "What's going on?"

"Quinn's missing," I stated, looking back at the TV.

"Missing?" She appeared to be shocked by the news. "Where is she?"

"If we knew that, she wouldn't be missing," I snapped and sent a glare in her direction.

She was silent for a minute, and then, "Think she's with Daniel?"

"I know she is," I growled under my breath.

I pictured Dana rolling her eyes and I felt the cushions shifting under me as she moved into a more confortable position.

"I warned you about that girl."

"There is nothing wrong with Quinn!" I said, raising my voice considerably.

"But she cheated on you."

"She didn't cheat on me! Quinn didn't do anything wrong! I don't know what I said to you to make you think that Quinn was the one at fault here, but she wasn't. Daniel came on to Quinn, not the other way around!" I tried to explain to her what had happened that night, but she just stared back at me uncomprehendingly.

"Oh, come on," she whined. "You honestly think that Daniel would have just attacked her . . . for no reason?"

"Yes!" I cried, hoping she might actually be coming around. "And Daniel kidnapped her last night! He has her locked up some place."

She chewed softly at the inside of her cheek as she stared back at me with a weird expression on her face, which made it hard for me to figure out what she was thinking. "You want to hear my theory about this?"

" . . . What?" I questioned, not entirely sure if I wanted to hear what she was about to say.

"I think that Quinn has been lying to you ever since the 4th of July party." She put a hand up to silence me when I tried to object to this and continued with her version of the story. "I think that Quinn started to develop feelings for Daniel after you introduced her to him. You saw the way Daniel was looking at Quinn when you met up with your friends at the mall, and when Quinn told you that Daniel was flirting with her, you remembered the looks he gave her before, and believed her. I still believe that Quinn invited Daniel to her room that night. And now," she stopped to think about the current situation with Quinn, trying to put the pieces together so they would work with her twisted version of the events. "I don't think Quinn was kidnapped. I bet she willingly went off with that guy."

I stared at her in bafflement. "Seriously? There are so many things wrong with your theory."

"Like what?"

I thought back over everything that had happened these past couple of months. I remembered Quinn's reaction to when Daniel kept staring at her at the mall. She had scooted her chair closer to me and reached for my hand under the table. The look in her eyes at the time had been concern. She had told me that the look in his eyes at the moment made her really uncomfortable.

The night when Quinn was sexually assaulted, she had woken me up, screaming for help. The days and nights following the incident for her were filled with panic attacks and nightmares. There was no way she could have been faking all that.

As for last night, Quinn had left her purse behind. If she had simply ran off with Daniel, she would have taken her phone and money with her . . . and the phone call. She had sounded so scared on the phone.

I tried to explain all of this to Dana, but she was a hard one to convince.

"She could have easily faked all of that," she claimed, shrugging off my points.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why would she fake all of it?"

She shrugged. "That, I haven't figured out yet."

I shook my head. "Lola's the actress, not Quinn. She wouldn't have gone through all this drama if she wanted to be with Daniel."

I turned to pick up the remote that I had set on the table, and was planning to change the channel of the TV when Dana scooted closer to me, causing our shoulders to touch.

"Quinn is with Daniel now," she stated firmly, moving her fingers up and down my arm, making my skin tingle at her touch. She then leaned down towards my ear to whisper, "It's time for you to move on," before kissing my skin.

I instantly pulled away from her and moved farther down the couch. "What are you doing?" I scowled at her in slight disgust.

She let out a groan in irritation. "Why can't you just let her go? You know that we would make a much better couple than you and Quinn. You won't have to deal with everyone's comments either. The abuse from our classmates would stop if you started to date me."

"But I don't want to date you! I don't care what everybody thinks! I like Quinn! I love Quinn, and I'm not going to give up on finding her!"

She angrily got to her feet and stared down at me, hatred written all over her face. "She's a nerd! You deserve someone better than her."

I stared up at her, the same expression of hatred appearing in my eyes. "Quinn is the best person for me," I said slowly, wanting her to realize how serious I was. "I don't want to see you anymore. I want you to stay away from me," I stated firmly. "I want you to stay away from Quinn. You hear me. I don't want you to ever speak to her again."

Realizing that I wasn't going to back down, I saw her hands start to ball into fists at her sides in rage. "You're making a mistake," she snarled between her teeth. "You'll change your mind!" She then turned away from me and marched angrily out into the hallway.

"Doubt it," I muttered to myself as I turned back to the TV.


	18. Chapter 18

*** WARNING! This chapter contains information about sexual assault. ***

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

After hanging up with Mr. Kidwell, I carefully set the phone back down where Daniel had left it. I was hesitant about allowing Daniel to take the phone back when he came down next time. What if something went wrong? What if I needed to get another call out? It might be better if I held onto it.

I shook my head to banish the thought. Sam was right. They needed to get a better signal from the phone in order to find me, and to do that Daniel had to take it with him. It was really hard to let it go though.

Time passed extremely slowly by myself in the freezing basement. I kept fidgeting with the chain that was around my ankle and I tried to find a comfortable position to lay in while I waited, but everything I tried seemed uncomfortable due to the cold, hard, cement flooring.

I still held onto my deformed promise ring, keeping it cupped in the palm of my right hand. I would open up my fist every now and then, and steal a look at the crumpled remains of the ring.

As the afternoon waned on, the sun started to move towards the west and my stomach began to growl louder. I had now missed both breakfast and lunch. I was so hungry.

My eyelids were starting to droop when loud banging noises from upstairs caused me to stir. Suddenly, the door at the top of the stairs flew open and Daniel's feet could be heard pounding down the staircase.

"Where is it?!" he yelled at me, fury on his face. His hands were balled into fists by his sides.

Figuring he meant the cell phone, I pointed to the device that I had set on the ground, not taking my eyes off of him.

I quickly scooted back along the ground as he came closer to retrieve his phone. "You used it," he instantly accused me, crouching in front of me.

I shook my head quickly back and forth, causing some of my hair to fly into my face. "How could I? I don't know your passcode," I defended myself, and in reply he sent a slap across my face. A couple tears appeared in my eyes, but I forced them away before they could spill over again and rubbed a hand against my sore cheek. "I wouldn't get any signal down here anyways."

He grinned at me, seeming to believe my lie. He reached a hand out to pat the side of my face a couple times. "Good girl," he whispered approvingly. From my cheek, his fingers slowly traced down the side of neck, to my shoulder, and glided slowly down towards my chest. Eyes widening in fear, I moved to push his hand away.

Letting a growl out between his teeth, he grabbed a fist full of my hair and jerked my head forward. He then leaned closer to whisper in my ear. "Don't fight me, sweetheart. Otherwise, it will be a lot worse."

Not able to hold back the tears any longer, a few started to run down my cheeks as I nodded my head, giving him permission to do what he wanted and I felt a hand return to my chest.

A sick feeling started to form in the pit of my stomach as he began to fondle one of my breasts. Eventually, he let go of my hair and used the hand to reach around to undo my bra.

Sobbing, I didn't try to fight him off as the piece of clothing fell to the floor. He spent sometime using his hands on my breasts. When he had had enough of that, he leaned down to put my nipple in his mouth. One of his hands moved down to trace the outskirts of my panties, but he didn't try to take them off me or force his fingers behind the fabric.

I closed my eyes as my stomach started to twist in knots. Everything in my body was screaming at me to push him away. The feeling in my stomach slowly turned into nausea.

When he was finished with my breasts, he pulled away to look at my face, cupping one hand against my cheek. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

I turned my eyes towards the ground, avoiding his gaze.

Daniel stood up and glared down at me huddled on the floor. Without a word, he tossed my bra into my lap and headed back to the main floor of the building.

I waited until I heard the door slam behind him before picking up the fabric and strapping it back into place around my chest. Taking a couple deep breaths, I tried to get the tears to stop pouring down my face, but more kept coming. I knew that I wouldn't be able to take much more of this.

I stole a glance towards where the cell phone used to be. It wasn't there. Daniel must have taken it with him this time. A small smile appeared on my face through the tears.

It shouldn't be long now.

**_Logan's Point of View _**

Hours passed by with no sign of any progress being made in finding my girlfriend. No positive responses had been heard from any of the officers out scouring the city for her, and the attempt to try and trace Daniel's cell phone didn't appear to be working to me.

My anxiety just seemed to worsen as each hour passed by with no word about Quinn. I didn't know what I would do if we didn't find her soon. Too much time was passing. Daniel could have raped Quinn several times by now. Thinking this just made me panic even more. We needed to find her, now!

My constant pacing and frustration was starting to take its toll on Sam and Aidan.

"Why don't you get out of here for a while?" Aidan encouraged me.

"We'll contact you if anything happens," Sam promised.

A walk might actually do me some good right now. I needed something to do. It would keep me moving. "Fine," I groaned in slight annoyance. "But you call me as soon as you hear anything," I emphasized. Seeing them both nod in agreement, I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door to get some fresh air.

Not having any real destination in mind, I just started to walk around the campus and somehow ended up at the PCA's Juice Bar. I decided to head inside to get out of the heat.

Even though I still wasn't that hungry, I placed an order for a small mango smoothie and took a seat at one of the back tables in the restaurant. I cupped my hands around my drink, letting the coolness of the cup seep into my skin.

For about an hour, I stared off into the distance, letting my mind wander, as I took small sips from my drink. I jumped in surprise when my cell phone suddenly started going off in my pocket. Digging it out, I recognized Sam Kidwell's number on the screen and quickly answered the phone.

"Did you find something?"

"We got it!" He cried through the phone. "We know where Quinn is! We got the address!"

I jumped to my feet and made a beeline for the exit, tossing my half finished smoothie into the trash on the way out. "Text me the address. I'll meet you there." I then hung up the phone and raced back towards my room to retrieve the keys to the car my dad had bought for me this year.

I had just entered my room when I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. Looking down, I opened the text message to see the address they had sent me and paused in front of the desk. I knew the place. I recognized the address.

The officer's tracking device had spit out the address of an arcade gaming location. Daniel and I used to go there all the time as kids, but the place had gone out of business several years ago. Now, it was just an abandoned building, sitting on the side of the road.

Daniel was hiding Quinn there? Only one way to find out.

Not wanting to waste time trying to find the place again, I pasted the address into the MapQuest on my phone, grabbed my car keys, and hurried out to my car.

I wasn't going to come back without my girlfriend.


	19. Chapter 19

*** WARNING! This chapter contains information about sexual assault. ***

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**Chapter 19**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

I drove as quickly as I could through the traffic, honking my horn and cursing under my breath, trying to get everyone to move faster. When that didn't work, I waited until there were no cars coming in the opposite direction before turning into that side of the road. I would then speed up and hurry around the drivers that were biding by the speed limit.

Following the directions that were being told to me by my MapQuest app, I arrived at my destination ten minutes faster than the device said it would take. I lowered my speed limit immensely as I turned into the parking lot of the old arcade building.

On the outside, the structure looked like no one had been caring for it since the business closed down. The sign attached to the front was tilted and looked like it could fall at any moment. Several of the windows were boarded up with pieces of wood.

As I turned off my car and pulled the keys out of the ignition, I was surprised to see that the entrance appeared to be open a couple inches. If Daniel really was in there with Quinn, wouldn't he have closed the door completely? It made me wonder if perhaps something had gone wrong when tracing the location.

Stepping out of the car, I looked over towards the main road, hoping to see police cars pulling into the lot, but no one was driving towards me. I didn't hear any sirens either.

Turning back to the structure in front of me, I considered waiting outside for backup, but if Quinn really was inside she may need my help.

Deciding that it would be best to leave the car unlocked just in case we needed to make a quick escape, I pocketed my keys and headed around to the side of the building. I wanted to get a better idea of the situation that was going on inside before walking in.

The sun was just starting to set as I headed around to the back of the building. I pressed my face up close to a couple of the windows trying to see inside. The windows were pretty dirty, but I was able to make out a couple of the old machine games that the arcade used to have lined up for the kids. The bad lighting inside created long shadows across the floor and the walls, but I didn't think anybody was inside. Nevertheless, I continued around to the back of the building.

There were two rows of windows along the back of the building. Even so, the lowest windows back here were still a couple feet out of reach. I did notice a couple smaller windows close to the ground. In order to look through them I had to lay down flat onto my stomach and scoot closer to them. Pressing my nose against the glass, I squinted into the dark space trying to make out anything in what appeared to be the basement. There were no lights on down there. I didn't think anyone was there.

I was starting to push myself up onto my knees when out of the corner of my eye I was sure I saw something move. Moving closer to the glass again, I focused on what appeared to be a pole in the middle of the room. Cupping my hands around my eyes, I blinked a couple times trying to get them to adjust to the darkness inside.

Slowly, the form of a person started to come into view. Someone was sitting down, with their back facing me, near the pole. Then the long hair came into focus.

Quinn! It was Quinn! I was sure of it.

Still not sure where Daniel was, I knocked lightly on the window, hoping to get the girl's attention. The woman's head suddenly looked up as if she was trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. I pounded again at the window, this time harder. Turning around, Quinn's eyes made contact with mine. In the darkness, I was just able to make out the expression on her face when she saw me looking back at her. She smiled, and her eyes lit up.

Before I could do anything else, light suddenly appeared from a door that I could now see was located at the top of a stairwell on one side of the room. Hearing the door open, Quinn quickly turned away from me and towards the door.

The first thing I noticed about the boy coming down the stairs, was that he didn't appear to be wearing any clothes. As he descended, the kid's face came into view: Daniel.

I froze as I watched my former friend slowly approach my girlfriend from across the room and made his way over to her as she huddled on the floor. Only then did I realize that Quinn was only in a bra and panties.

Quinn moved backwards across the floor trying to keep her distance from the naked man, but stopped suddenly in the attempt.

The chain! The chain wouldn't let her get any farther.

Paralyzed in fright, I watched as Daniel kneeled down in front of Quinn and reached down towards the chain that was around her ankle. He must have unlocked the bondage from her leg, because the next thing I saw was Quinn up and running towards the stairs.

I was just starting to think that she was going to make it out of there by herself, when Daniel jumped to his feet and raced after her. Daniel was both faster and stronger than Quinn. I knew there was no way she would be able to outrun him.

Seeing the kidnapper up and after my girlfriend was all it took to get me moving again. Getting to my feet, I headed back around the structure towards the door that had been left open and let myself in.

Pausing for a second in the front room, I tried to remember the layout of the building from when I had come here during my childhood. I didn't remember there being a basement in the building. I figured the door must be in the backroom where only the employees where allowed to go.

As soon as this thought crossed my mind, I heard Quinn's scream. "Stop! Let me go!"

Not knowing for sure where I was going, I simply followed the cries of my frightened girlfriend in order to get to her. As I had guessed, the screams were coming from somewhere in the backroom. Pushing through it, I saw the basement door located to my left, still wide open.

"Logan!"

I raced down the stairs to see Daniel, straddling Quinn on a mattress that was on the other side of the room. He had already taken her bra off and was currently struggling to get her underwear off.

Sprinting over to the couple, I yanked Daniel off of Quinn and pulled him over to the foot of the mattress, shoving him up against the wall.

"Really?! We have been friends for years, Daniel! You seriously want to end our friendship this way," I snapped.

"She wanted it!"

Outraged by the boy's attempt to blame Quinn for his sexual attack, I sent a fist flying into his face. Blood instantly started to pour from his nose as Daniel groaned in pain. I let go of him and his back slid against the wall until he was sitting on the floor.

Taking a step back from Daniel, I glanced over at Quinn. She was sitting up on the mattress, struggling to get the clip of her bra back together.

Movement to my right caught my attention. Turning, I saw Daniel trying to make a run for the stairs. For a second, I considered just letting him go to focus on Quinn and make sure she was okay, but if Daniel got away again then things would just go back to the way they were these past couple of weeks.

Where was the police?

Even though he had gotten a head start on me, I managed to catch up to him at the top of the stairs by taking them two at a time and grabbed his arm, holding him back. Spinning around to face me, he seemed to have a hard time making eye contact with me. I figured the wound I had caused was making him feel a little dizzy; blood from his nose was starting to pour down his chin. Kneeing him in the groin, he instantly went down.

"Logan . . ."

I turned around to see Quinn staring up at me from the bottom of the stairs.

Considering the condition Daniel was in right now, I thought it would be okay to leave him alone for a couple minutes and I bounded back down the stairs to check on my girlfriend.

Already aware of her current wardrobe situation, I made sure to keep my eyes focused on her face, hoping to make her feel less vulnerable. I moved to rest one hand gently on her shoulder. She flinched at the touch, but didn't push me away. I took that as a good sign.

"Are you okay?" I asked, moving my other hand to her cheek.

A few tears escaped from her eyes, but I brushed them away with my thumb.

"He damaged it," she whispered.

I frowned, confused. "What?"

Looking down, she raised one of her hands, her fingers closed in a loose fist. Opening her hand, she revealed the promise ring that I had given to her at the beach just a couple days ago, only now . . . I reached down and picked up the ring to look at it closer.

"Daniel did this?" I asked, looking into her eyes. "What did he do?"

Crying, she explained to me how Daniel had used a hammer to force the ring to bend out of shape.

Stealing a quick glance up the stairs to make sure the kid was still where I had left him, I sent a glare in his direction. I had given this ring to Quinn. He had no right to do this!

Turning back to my girl, I noticed that her flow of tears was coming faster. I knew how much she loved the ring. I couldn't imagine how she must have felt having to watch Daniel destroy it.

I placed my hand back to her cheek and leaned in close enough for our foreheads to touch before whispering, "I'll buy you another one."

I saw a small smile appear on her lips at this. "The same one? With the hearts?"

I chuckled softly and smirked back at her. "The same one, I promise."


	20. Chapter 20

Last chapter! Leave a review, please. Thanks for reading!

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**Chapter 20**

**_Logan's Point of View _**

As I placed the damaged ring into my pocket, we finally heard sirens approaching outside.

I took Quinn's hand and started to lead her upstairs to check on Daniel's condition. Refusing to pass through the doorway with Daniel being on the other side, I left Quinn huddling behind the doorframe.

Daniel seemed to have passed out on the floor from his injuries. I kicked his leg gently, but he didn't stir.

"Logan?" Quinn called from her hiding place.

"Yeah?" I asked, not looking up.

She hesitated a second before saying one word. "Clothes?"

I glanced over at the head that was peeking around the doorframe and gave her an understanding smile. She didn't want the police to see her in her current dress.

Giving a quick scan around the backroom, I noticed what appeared to be cubbies along one wall where the employees could stash their belongings while they were at work. There seemed to be a couple items left behind.

"Hang on," I said, taking a couple steps in that direction and then paused, turning back to look at Daniel on the floor. Looking over at Quinn, I pointed at the boy. "If he starts to wake up, call me." She nodded, and I headed over to scavenge through the cubbies.

I found quite a few things that had been left behind. Among the trash, I located an old baseball cap, a couple drawstring bags, a novel, and a few coats. One of the jackets I found was a long, dusty, trench coat. It looked like it was going to be couple sizes too big for Quinn, but it would work for now. I also found a bright green raincoat and decided to use it to cover up Daniel's naked body.

As I passed the jacket to Quinn, I heard voices entering the building.

"In here!" I called, throwing the raincoat over Daniel's extremities.

Seconds later, the backroom was filled with officers and a couple paramedics.

Giving the EMT's room to work on Daniel, I headed back over to Quinn who was now dressed in the long trench coat. She clung to me as I held her close to my side, not wanting to let her go.

By the time the paramedics wheeled in a stretcher for Daniel, the kid was starting to wake up. A police officer handcuffed one of his arms to the side of the stretcher to keep him from trying to escape and they wheeled him outside to load him into the ambulance.

One of the EMT's then came up to us to check on Quinn, asking her a couple questions to figure out what her condition was. I was thankful to hear that Daniel hadn't done much in the way of hurting her. She was fine.

While a handful of police officers headed downstairs with Aidan Witwer to check out the scene, Sam Kidwell accompanied Quinn and I outside to get some fresh air and watch Daniel being loaded up into the ambulance parked in the lot.

Realizing that Quinn wasn't in the mood to talk right now, Sam directed a question at me. "We are going to need to get a statement from Quinn about what happened here; the full story. Think she'll be up to answering our questions?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he turned his gaze on the girl.

I kissed the side of her head. "What do you think? Would you be willing to talk to them?"

In response, Quinn buried her head into my shoulder and clung to me tighter.

"Would I be able to sit with her while you talk to her?" I asked Sam, understanding Quinn's concern.

He gave us a small smile and nodded. "I think that could be arranged."

As he went off to talk to one of his fellow officers for a couple minutes, I hugged Quinn close to my side and talked to her, letting her know that I wasn't going anywhere.

**_Quinn's Point of View _**

I snuggled closer to Logan, resting my head against his shoulder as he moved to drape his arm around mine. Feeling safe in my boyfriend's arms, I gazed up at the stars as we sat on the roof of the boy's dorm room, just enjoying each other's company.

A couple weeks had passed since my kidnapping. Daniel was checked out of the hospital last week and was now sitting in jail awaiting his trial under the charges of assault and kidnapping.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on trying to get my life back on track. I was happy with the progress that I had been making already since Daniel's arrest and I was hoping to be pretty much back to myself in a couple of months.

I was already experiencing fewer panic attacks and I was no longer scared to leave my room by myself, but nightmares were still a constant battle every night. I was even able to start focusing on my science experiments for a couple hours at a time.

I was still seeing my therapist every week and she was continuing to help me get over what had happened before and after the start of the school year.

As I studied the stars in the sky, I could feel Logan's eyes on me. He reached over to brush a couple strands of my hair behind my ear before speaking. "How do you feel about meeting with the lawyer tomorrow? You nervous?"

I turned my head so I was looking down towards the ground. "A little. I'm more nervous about having to face Daniel in the court room," I whispered, fear evident in my voice. I buried my head into his chest. "I don't want to see him again."

I felt him kiss the top of my head. "I know," he whispered. "But it's the only way to get him locked up for good, and I know you don't want him coming after you again."

I let out a moan in protest, and shook my head back and forth against his shirt.

"I know you're scared," he sighed into my hair. "You're not going to be alone with him at all. There will be a room full of people present . . . and I'll be there. Nothing's going to happen."

When I didn't answer, he planted a soft kiss on my forehead and rubbed his thumb against my cheek gently. Changing the subject, he said, "I got something for you."

Taking my head away from his chest, I looked up at him and smiled. "What?"

He shifted his position to make it easier for him to pull out a small white box from his pant pocket, a box that I recognized immediately.

"Here," he whispered, handing me the container.

Taking the small box from his hand, I slowly raised the lid to reveal a new, undamaged, promise ring. Seeing the silver and gold interlocking hearts, a huge smile grew on my face. A happy squeal escaped my lips and I turned to wrap my arms around my boyfriend, hugging him close. "Thank you! Thank you!"

I heard him chuckle in my ear. "You're welcome."

I let go of my boyfriend long enough for him to slide the new ring onto my finger, before turning back to hold onto him.

I had dealt with so much pain and drama in the past couple of months, and I knew that without Logan being with me every step of the way, I wouldn't have been able to make it through. I was still scared about everything that I had to face in the coming weeks, but I knew that as long as Logan was with me, I could make it through anything.


End file.
